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A  MILITARY  GOVERNOR  AMONG  ABOLITIONISTS. 


A    LETTER 


FROM 


EDWAKD  STANLY 


TO 


CHARLES   SUMNER. 


NEW    Y  0  E  K 

1865. 


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FOR  USE  ONLY  IN 
THE  NORTH  CAROLINA  COLLECTION 


A  MILITARY  GOYERNOR  AMONG  ABOLITIONISTS. 


A   LETTER 


PROM 


EDWAED  STANLY 


TO 


CHARLES  SUMNER. 


NEW    YORK 
1865. 


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New   York,  February,  1865. 

To   Hon.  Charles  Sumner,  Senator  from  Mass. 

Sir: — An  eminent  gentleman  of  Boston  remarked, 
with  great  force  and  truth,  that  "  fanaticism  hardens  the  heart 
and  darkens  the  understanding  ;  and  Avhere  there  is  neither 
common  sense,  nor  common  charity,  the  very  first  step  in  a 
process  of  reasoning  cannot  be  taken/' 

The  author  of  this  remark  must  have  had  you  in  his 
mind's  eye  when  he  wrote  this  sentence.  All  who  know  you 
are  compelled  to  admit  you  have  no  common  sense.  You 
are  as  remarkable  for  want  of  it  as  you  are  for  your  preten- 
sions of  scholarship,  and  of  being  an  earnest  man,  deeply 
sjonpathizing  with  distressed  humanity.  I  shall  satisfy  all 
who  read  what  I  have  to  say  of  you,  that  you  are  not  only 
destitute  of  charity,  but  full  of  malice. 

It  is  no  feeling  of  retaliation  that  urges  me  to  address  you 
this  communication.  I  would  not  inflict  personal  injury  up- 
on you  if  you  were  in  my  power  ;  but  I  owe  it  to  my  friends, 
especially  in  Massachusetts,  to  defend  my  character  against 
your  slanders,  or  rather  to  show  them  who  my  assailant  is. 
Had  you  attacked  me  under  your  own  name,  as  you  did  in 
the  Senate,  in  June,  1862,  I  should  have  regarded  it  with 
indifference,  as  I  did  that  attack.  When  I  saw  in  some 
newspaper  that  you  had  animadverted,  in  terms  of  censure, 
upon  my  conduct  as  Military  Governor  of  North  Carolina,  I 
remarked  that  it  was  all  fair,  only  "  tit  for  tat,"  for,  some  years 
ago,  in  the  House  of  Representatives,  while  I  was  a  Member  of 


Congress  for  that  State,  I  had  assailed  you,  and  had  no  right 
to  complain  now.  But  when  you  write  an  article  for  a  liter- 
ary periodical,  among  whose  contributors  are  several  gentle- 
men of  high  character,  and  no  information  is  given  that  the 
public  may  know  who  is  the  author,  that  is  a  different  affair. 
Then  I  have  a  right  to  bring  my  traducer  before  the  bar  of 
public  opinion,  and  to  expose  the  motive  which  instigated 
the  slander. 

In  April,  1862,  I  had  the  honor  to  receive,  in  San  Fran- 
cisco, from  Mr.  Stanton,  Secretary  of  War,  a  telegraphic  de- 
spatch, announcing  my  appointment  as  Military  Governor  of 
North  Carolina.  It  was  entirely  unexpected  and  unsolicited. 
I  accepted — glad  of  an  opportunity  to  render  any  service  to 
my  country.  I  had  not  been  in  North  Carolina  a  week,  be- 
fore I  was  made  the  subject  of  most  unjust  vituperation,  as 
I  will  presently  show.  Letter- writers  reported  to  newspapers 
not  what  they  knew,  but  all  the  "it  is  said"  reports  to 
my  discredit.  Editors  dealt  in  terms  of  abuse,  and  clergy- 
men, thirsting  for  the  applause  of  mobs,  tired  of  preaching 
peace  on  earth  and  good  will  to  men,  wearied  with  the  celes- 
tial truths  of  Holy  Writ,  turned  aside  to  prey  on  the  garbage 
of  abolition  slander. 

During  a  visit  to  Washington  city,  a  few  days  ago,  being 
reluctant  to  believe  you  were  a  malignant  man,  wishing  to 
act  according  to  the  golden  rule  of  doing  unto  others  as  we 
would  they  should  do  unto  us,  and  desiring  to  avoid  per- 
sonalities in  anything  I  should  publish  in  my  defence,  I 
sought  an  interview  with  you,  in  order  that  I  might  submit 
to  you  some  evidence  to  induce  you,  in  a  Christian  and  gentle- 
manly spirit,  to  make  reparation  for  the  injustice  done  me  by 
your  article  on  "  Our  Domestic  Eolations,"  published  in  the 
Atlantic  Monthly. 

I  was  sadly  mistaken.  But  before  I  refer  specially  to 
that  interview,  and  to  the  letter  which  followed  it,  it  is  prop- 
er to  say,  that  you  made  reference  to  a  speech  I  had  made  in 
Congress  some  years  ago. 


Hinc  illce  lacrymce.  It  was  but  too  apparent  that  the 
recollection  of  that  speech  was  rankling  in  your  heart.  I  had 
not  forgotten,  as  I  told  you,  that  I  had  made  the  speech. 
On  the  next  day,  I  went  to  the  Congressional  Library,  to  see 
whether  the  speech  had  been  reported,  for  that  I  did  not 
remember. 

In  the  appendix  to  the  Congressional  Globe,  3'2d  Con- 
gress, 1st  Session,  page  694,  I  found  the  cause  of  your  en- 
mity. The  speech  was  delivered  on  the  12th  of  June,  185*2. 
There  is  no  statute  of  limitations,  Mr.  Sumner,  to  your  hate. 

The  following  quotation  from  that  speech  was  in  your  re- 
tentive memory  when  you  wrote  "  Our  Domestic  Rela- 
tions : "       . 

"  And  who  is  now  the  representative  in  the  Senate  of  the  Coalition 
in  Massachusetts?  Charles  Sumner.  "What  a  fall  was  there,  my  country- 
men !  In  that  greatest  of  great  speeches,  delivered  by  Mr.  "Webster,  in  re- 
ply to  Hayne — a  speech  which  would  have  made  its  author  immortal,  had 
he  made  no  other — there  is  a  beautiful  apostrophe  to  Massachusetts.  '  There 
6he  stands,'  he  said ;  '  look  at  her.'  For  many  years  past  the  country 
has  said,  with  pride,  pointing  to  her  Senators — look  at  her  !  But  then, 
Webster  and  Davis  were  there ;  then,  Ohoate  and  Wiuthrop  were  there. 
But  who  says  look  at  her  now?  "Whom  has  she  given  us  by  democratic 
votes  as  the  successor  of  Webster  and  Winthrop  ?  Look  on  that  pic- 
ture, and  then  on  this,  O  Massachusetts  !  and  hide  your  diminished  head! 
Her  present  senator  is  the  author  of  a  speech  'on  our  present  anti- 
slavery  duties,'  at  the  Free  Soil  State  Convention  in  Boston,  October 
3d,  1850,  some  extracts  from  which  were  published  in  the  Republic 
newspaper,  a  few  days  ago.  In  that  speech,  among  other  things,  the 
Democratic  Coalition  success  or  ofWebster  thus  spoke  of  the  Fugitive  Law 
and  of  the  President : 

"  '  Into  the  immortal  catalogue  of  national  crimes  this  has  now  passed, 
drawing  with  it,  by  an  inexorable  necessity,  its  authors  also;  and  chiefly 
him,  who,  as  President  of  the  United  States,  set  his  name  to  the  bill,  and 
breathed  into  it  that  final  breath,  without  which  it  would  have  no  life. 
Other  presidents  may  be  forgotten,  but  the  name  signed  to  the  Fugitive  Bill 
can  never  be  forgotten.  There  are  depths  of  infamy,  as  there  are  heights 
of  fame.  I  regret  to  say  what  I  must,  but  truth  compels  me.  Better  far 
for  him  had  he  never  been  born.  Better  far  for  his  memory  and  for  the 
good  name  of  his  children,  had  he  never  been  President.' 

"And  yet,  sir,  the  man  who  made   this   speech  has    been  so  des- 


titute  of  all  regard  for  .propriety,  as  to  be  seen  visiting  the  President, 
whose  situation  compels  him  to  receive  all  visitors!  Oh!  shame,  where 
is  thy  blush?  I  shall,  hereafter,  have  another  word  to  say  of  this  wicked 
speech.  In  place  of  Webster,  the  journeymen  platform-builders  in  Massa- 
chusetts have  sent  us  a  fantastic  Malvolio,  who  puts  himself  into  the 
trick  of  singularity ;  and,  by  a  peculiar  tact  for  thrusting  himself  where 
he  is  not  wanted,  he  seeks  commendation  for  his  'yellow  stockings,'  when 
he  is  '  cross-gartered.'  When  he  speaks,  we  look  at  him  ;  and,  remember- 
ing his  speeches  to  Free  Soil  Conventions,  we  say,  'O,  peace!  Con- 
templation makes  a  rare  turkey-cock  of  him.  How  he  jets  under  his 
advanced  plumes ! '  " 

It  was  to  this  speech,  Mr.  Sumner,  that  you  alluded  in 
our  recent  interview.  I  confess  it  does  not  present  you  in  a 
flattering  point  of  view  ;  but  what  honest  man  will  say,  the 
facts  being  correct,  that  it  was  not  a  just  rebuke  ?  "I 
regret  to  say  what  I  must,  but  truth  compels  me."  This  is 
not  the  only  instance  in  your  conduct  of  a  total  disregard 
for  all  propriety. 

If  I  mistake  not,  you  were  at  college  with  the  Hon.  R.  C. 
Winthrop.  While  he  was  in  Congress,  shortly  after  the 
United  States  had  declared  war  against  Mexico,  you  visited 
Washington,  and,  of  course — being  noted  as  one  given  to 
hospitality  in  accepting  invitations — you  accepted  his  invita- 
tion to  dinner.  Shortly  before  coming  to  Washington,  you  had 
anonymously  assailed  your  old  friend  and  college-mate  with 
coarse  abuse.  Yet,  not  dreading  the  "  depths  of  infamy/'  you 
ate  of  his  salt,  and  "  smiled  and  smiled  "  while  drinking  his 
wine  !  You  soon  returned  to  Boston,  and  renewed  your  ca- 
lumnious assaults  upon  the  gentleman  of  whose  generous  hos- 
pitality you  had  just  partaken. 

Mr.  Winthrop  made  some  publication,  appended,  I  be- 
lieve, to  a  volume  of  his  speeches,  in  which  he  gave  you  a 
just  rebuke,  and  declined  further  social  intercourse  with  you. 
From  this  publication  and  from  conversation  with  other 
gentlemen  I  learn  this  fact  ;  I  do  not  remember  ever  to  have 
heard  him  mention  your  name.  Can  I  be  grieved  because  I 
am  calumniated  by  such  a  man  as  this  "  earnest "  Charles 
Sumner  ? 


"  I  regret  to  say  what  I  must,  but  truth  compels  me." 
Upon  another  occasion — I  have  forgotten  what— probably  at 
a  free-soil  convention,  or  a  meeting  of  spirit-rappers,  or  a 
woman's  rights  convention,  or  a  peace  society,  where  you  have 
always  secured  the  most  rapturous  applause — you  wantonly 
vilified  a  gentleman  of  high  character  in  the  city  of  Boston — 
a  man  respected  for  his  strong  intellect,  and  honored  for  his 
public  services  and  private  virtues — I  mean  the  late  Nathan 
Appleton — and  shortly  afterwards,  entirely  unconscious  that 
you  had  been  "personal,"  having  only  referred  to  him 
"  simply  for  illustration,"  you  called  on  Mr.  Appleton,  when 
you  were  told,  as  I  have  frequently  heard,  that  your  visits 
were  not  welcome  and  must  not  be  repeated.  The  Malvolio 
of  the  Senate  was  no  doubt  surprised  at  Mr.  Appleton's  no- 
tions of  propriety. 

When  you  came  to  the  Senate,  Mr.  Sumner,  it  is  well 
known  that  for  a  long  time  you  were  silent  upon  anti-slavery 
questions  ;  your  policy  then  was,  to  "  scorn  the  base  degrees," 
by  which  you  had  ascended,  and  to  ingratiate  yourself  into 
the  society  of  Southern  gentlemen.  The  abolition  press 
began  to  annoy  you  by  complaints  that  you  lacked  nerve, 
"  had  no  backbone,"  &c,  had  been  corrupted  by  association 
with  slave-holders.  One  gentleman  of  high  character  and 
position,  to  whom  a  friend  of  yours  sought  to  introduce  you, 
at  a  levee  at  the  Presidential  mansion,  turned  his  back  upon 
you,  declining  to  be  introduced  to  Mr.  Sumner.  It  is  un- 
necessary to  cite  other  well-known  instances  of  like  character. 
It  was  not  because  you  were  a  violent  anti-slavery  man  that 
you  were  despised  ;  Adams,  Hale,  Seward,  Chase,  King,  and 
others  had  been  older  and  abler  soldiers  in  the  anti-slavery 
cause,  but  they  were  gentlemen,  not  whining  sycophants, 
or  secret  slanderers  of  public  men  ;  they  were  honored  for 
their  integrity,  abilities,  and  private  virtues,  by  gentlemen 
from  all  sections  :  they  were  never  accused  of  partaking  of  a 
gentleman's  hospitality  and  then  stabbing  his  reputation  in 
the  dark.     There  is   another  cause  for  your  hate  of  every 


8 

Southern  gentleman.  You  were  the  victim  of  an  outrage, 
when  you  received  a  blow  in  the  Senate-Chamber  from  a 
Southern  man  :  an  outrage  justly  condemned  by  every 
Christian  patriot  in  our  country,  and  by  none  more  than  by 
myself.  And  since  you  recovered  "  backbone  "  enough  to 
resume  your  seat  in  the  Senate,  your  imagination  from  every 
inkstand  bodies  forth  a  revolver,  from  every  pen  a  bludgeon, 
in  the  hands  of  a  Southern  man. 

These  things  account  for  your  want  of  charity,  and  for 
the  dread  and  horror  you  entertain  at  the  thought  of  peace, 
which  may  bring  back  again  to  Congress  some  of  those  you 

bo  sincerely  hate  ;  for  you  would  as  soon  "  meet  the  d 1 

alone,"  as  see  the  Southern  States  again  represented  in  the 
Senate. 

But  to  return  to  the  "  Atlantic  Monthly."  When  my 
attention  was  called  to  "  Our  Domestic  Kelations,"  your 
name  was  not  given  as  the  author.  I  have  already  stated, 
that  had  your  name  appeared  as  the  author,  I  should  have 
passed  it  by  without  concern  ;  that  not  being  the  case,  the 
following  correspondence  took  place  : 

San  Francisco,  November  28£7i,  1863. 
To  Messes.  Ticknor  &  Fields,  Boston. 
Gentlemen  : — 

In  the  "  Atlantic  Monthly  "  of  October,  published  by  yon,  there  is  an 
Article  entitled  "  Our  Domestic  Relations,"  in  which,  on  page  509,  appears 
the  following  : 

"  The  conduct  of  at  least  one  of  our  military  magistrates  seems  to  have 
been  a  counterpart  to  that  of  these  '  bashaws'  of  Cromwell,  and  there  is 
no  argument  against  that  early  despotism,  which  may  not  be  urged  against 
any  attempt  to  revive  it  in  our  day.  Some  of  the  acts  of  Governor  Stanly 
in  North  Carolina,  are  in  themselves  an  argument  against  the  whole 
system." 

My  purpose  in  addressing  you  is  to  ascertain  the  name  of  the  author  of 
the  article,  in  which  so  unjust  and  unfounded  an  imputation  is  made 
against  me.  I  may  be  able  to  satisfy  him  that  he  has  been  imposed  on 
by  malignant  libellers;  that  "some  of  the  acts"  of  which  he  has  heard 
were  committed  after  consultation  with,  and  upon  the  advice  of  Major- 
Generals  Burnside  and  Foster,  commanding  the  Department  of  North 


Carolina,  while  I  was  acting  as  Military  Governor ;  that  these  acts  were 
reported  to  the  President  and  Secretary  of  War,  and  after  examination, 
my  conduct  was  approved  by  them ;  that  some  of  the  attacks  against  me 
in  the  newspapers  were  misrepresentations  of  "  some  of  the  acts  "  referred 
to,  and  have  been  proved  such. 

I  do  not  object  to — on  the  contrary,  I  solicit — the  most  severe  scrutiny 
of  some,  or  of  all  my  acts,  while  I  was  Military  Governor  of  North 
Carolina.  If  it  were  supposable  that  the  author  of  the  article  could  have 
been  influenced  by  vindictive  feelings,  and  would  be  glad  of  an  oppor- 
tunity of  indulging  them  upon  sufficient  excuse,  I  would  inform  him,  he 
has  my  defiance  to  afford  your  readers,  or  the  public  through  any  other 
channel,  an  elaborate  and  searching  review,  of  any  or  of  all  "  the  acts  " 
referred  to. 

If  he  be  a  gentleman,  incapable  of  doing  injustice — of  striking  an  an- 
tagonist from  behind — if  he  be  not  one  who  is  "  willing  to  wound,  and 
yet  afraid  to  strike,"  I  wish  to  ask  him  to  specify  "some  of  the  acts  of 
Governor  Stanly  in  North  Carolina  "  which  have  provoked  the  remarks 
in  the  "  Atlantic  Monthly,"  which  I  have  quoted. 

In  this  way  only  can  I  furnish  a  proper  defence,  at  the  proper  time. 

I  am  the  more  sensitive  in  relation  to  this,  because  the  attack  comes 
from  Massachusetts,  to  whose  fame  I  have  never  been  unjust;  with  most 
of  whose  sons — some  illustrious  dead  and  living — whom  I  liave  met  in 
public  life,  it  has  been  my  good  fortune  to  be  on  the  most  friendly  terms  : 
we  have  often  taken  "  sweet  counsel  together,"  to  resist  the  attempts  of 
the  wicked  men  who  have  caused  this  horrible  war ;  with  some  of  her 
sons  my  pride  has  been  and  is,  that  I  possessed  evidences  of  their  esteem. 

"While  I  do  not  suppose  you  will  allow  the  "  Atlantic  Monthly  "  to  be 
used  for  personal  controversies,  yet  I  believe  you  will  not  allow  any  man 
to  be  assailed  unjustly,  by  any  of  your  contributors.  If  it  be  not  contrary 
to  the  rules  by  which  your  conduct  as  publishers  is  governed,  I  hope  you 
will  give  me  the  name  of  the  author  of  "  Our  Domestic  Eelations,"  and 
do  me  the  justice  to  publish  this  letter,  that  your  readers  may  be  informed 
Istand  ready,  when  specifications  are  given,  to  defend  any  attack  upon 
my  conduct  as  Military  Governor,  and  to  prove  that,  while  discharging 
the  most  painful  and  embarrassing  duties  of  the  office,  I  did  nothing  that 
I  wish  concealed  from  public  examination  ;  nothing  unbecoming  a  Chris- 
tian or  a  gentleman  ;  nothing  to  bring  reproach  on  the  administration,  or 
on  my  own,  I  trust,  hitherto  unstained  reputation. 

Very  respectfully  yours,  &c. 

EDWARD   STANLY. 


10 

Boston,  January  19ZA,  1864. 
Hon.  Edward  Stanly,  San  Francisco. 
Dear  Sir: — 
Your  favor  of  November  28th  came  to  hand  this  morning. 
Hon.  Charles  Sumner,  Senator  from  Massachusetts,  is  the  author  of  the 
article  referred  to  by  you,  to  whom  we  must  refer  you  for  such  explana- 
tion as  you  desire.     He  will  doubtless  be  happy  to  give  it. 
"We  send  you  by  this  mail  a  copy  of  the  article. 

Yery  truly  yours, 

TICKNOR  &  FIELDS. 

San  Francisco,  February  \Qth,  1864. 
To  the  Hon.  Charles  Sumner,  Washington  City. 
Sir  :— 

In  answer  to  a  letter  from  myself,  addressed  to  Messrs.  Ticknor  & 
Fields,  of  Boston,  they  inform  me  that  you  are  the  author  of  an  article 
in  the  "  Atlantic  Monthly,"  of  October,  1863,  entitled  "  Our  Domestic 
Relations." 

I  enclose  a  copy  of  my  letter  to  the  publishers  of  the  "Atlantic 
Monthly." 

I  have  not  the  slightest  objection  to  any  examination  of  my  conduct 
while  I  was  acting  as  Military  Governor  in  North  Carolina.  I  admit  the 
right  of  any  citizen  to  examine  and  censure  any  or  all  of  "the  acts  of  the 
Military  Governor." 

But  I  have  the  right,  when  thus  assailed,  to  ask,  as  I  now  do,  very 
respectfully,  that  you  would  specify  "  some  of  the  acts"  which  you  think 
deserve  the  condemnation  you  have  given  them. 

My  purpose  in  writing  this  communication  is  explained  in  the  letter 
enclosed. 

Your  obedient  servant,  &c. 

EDWARD  STANLY. 

Senate  Chamber,  May  18£A,  1864. 
Dear  Sir: — 

Your  letter  of  18th  February,  which  was  handed  to  my  clerk,  has  been 
over-laid  by  a  mass  of  unanswered  letters,  so  as  to  have  passed  out  of 
mind,  until  my  attention  was  again  called  to  it. 

Let  me  say  to  you  frankly  that  in  my  brief  allusion  to  yon,  I  intended 
nothing  personal.  Public  attention  had  been  already  called  to  certain 
incidents  during  your  administration  of  North  Carolina,  which  seemed  to 
my  mind  to  show  the  impolicy  of  such  a  military  system  of  government, 
and  I  referred  to  them  simply  for  illustration. 

In  reply  to  your  inquiry  as  to  these  acts,  I  beg  to  refer  you  to  a 


11 

pamphlet  which  has  recently  appeared  in  New  York,  entitled  "Brief 
report  of  the  services  rendered  by  the  Freed  People  to  the  United  States 
Army  in  North  Carolina  in  the  spring  of  1862,  after  the  battle  of  New- 
bern,  by  Vincent  Colyer,  Superintendent,  &c,  of  the  Poor,  under  Major- 
General  Burnside.  Illustrated.  New  York,  published  by  Vincent  Colyer, 
105  Bleecker  street,  1864." 

Faithfully  yours, 

CHARLES  SUMNER. 
P.  S.  The  pamphlet  contains  an  enumeration  of  the  acts. 

This  brings  me  to  Mr.  Colyer's  pamphlet.  I  attempted, 
while  in  San  Francisco,  unsuccessfully,  to  obtain  a  copy. 
After  some  trouble,  on  my  reaching  this  city  recently,  I 
procured  one. 

The  "  enumeration  of  the  acts,"  in  Mr.  Colyer's  pamph- 
let, will  be  found  on  page  55,  in  the  following  paragraph  : 

"  The  searching  of  my  premises  for  Harriet  the  slave-girl,  by  Bray,  and 
his  carrying  back  of  another,  having  an  order  in  writing  from  Governor 
Stanly,  permitting  him  to  do  so  ;  the  order  given  to  the  captain  of  the  steam- 
er Haze,  and,  it  was  said,  to  others,  forbidding  him  from  taking  any  freedmen 
North,  under  pain  of  the  confiscation  of  his  vessel ;  the  promise  to  Mr. 
Perry  of  $1,000  for  the  man  Sam  Williams,  whom  I  had  taken  North  with 
me;  the  demand  upon  General  Burnside  for  that  amount,  because  I  had 
not  returned  Sam  ;  the  expatriation  of  Mr.  Helper  ;  all  these  acts  of  Gov- 
ernor Stanly,  which  were  known  to  hundreds,  make  it  unnecessary  for 
me  to  say  any  more." 

For  the  sake  of  human  nature,  I  could  almost  wish  I  had 
done  some  unkind  act  to  Mr.  Colyer,  that  could  have  given 
him  some  excuse  for  deliberately  writing  that  paragraph.  I 
have  heard  that  Mr.  Colyer  was  a  "  preacher,"  as  well  as  an 
artist.  When  he  called  to  see  me,  in  North  Carolina,  he 
was  treated  with  all  the  respect  due  to  a  clergyman.  I  am 
not  conscious  that  I  have  ever  done  him  wrong.  Yet,  after 
twelve  months,  or  more,  had  passed  away,  without  excuse, 
without  the  hope  of  doing  good  to  any  one,  and  without  pro- 
vocation, he  has  published  a  pamphlet  filled  with  misrep- 
resentation of  my  conduct. 

In  the  sentences  quoted  there  are  three  falsehoods,  some 


12 

of  which  I  will  prove  by  General  Burnside,  whom  Mr.  Colyer 
has  tried  to  make  a  witness  to  support  his  statements. 

As  soon  as  I  succeeded  in  procuring  a  copy  of  the  Keport 
in  which  Mr.  Sumner  found  an  "  enumeration  of  the  acts  of 
the  Military  Governor/'  and  saw  General  Burnside's  name 
mentioned  to  support  Mr.  Colyer's  charges,  I  addressed  a  letter 
to  the  General,  enclosing  the  extract  quoted  above,  and  asked 
him  to  give  me  a  statement  relative  to  the  matters  comment- 
ed on  in  the  pamphlet. 

His  answer  I  give  below.  His  character,  as  a  patriot- 
soldier  and  Christian  gentleman,  ensures  credit  for  any  state- 
ment he  may  make.  I  wish  General  Burnside's  letter  re- 
membered in  connection  with  what  I  shall  state  hereafter. 

Providence,  E.  I.,  Jan.  16th,  1865. 
Hon.  Edward  Stanly 

My  Bear  Sir: — I  beg  to  own  the  receipt  of  your  letter  of  the  9th 
instant,  referring  to  a  paragraph  in  a  pamphlet  written  by  Mr.  Vincent 
Colyer. 

I  have  never  seen  the  pamphlet,  but  in  reference  to  the  passage  you 
quote,  I  do  not  hesitate  to  say  that  you  never  made  a  demand  of  me  for 
payment  for  any  person's  slave ;  neither  did  I  hear  you  promise  payment 
to  any  one  for  slaves.  At  Newbern  you  came  to  me,  in  company  with 
a  Mr.  Perry,  who  had  remained  at  home  when  we  entered  the  place,  and 
who  was  among  the  first,  if  not  the  first,  of  those  who  took  the  oath  of 
allegiance. 

The  joint  proclamation  issued  by  Commodore  Goldsborough  and  my- 
self, in  accordance  with  our  instructions,  assured  those  who  remained  at 
home  that,  as  far  as  possible,  their  persons  and  property  would  be  pro- 
tected. 

As  in  all  instances,  where  places  have  been  suddenly  and  forcibly  oc- 
cupied by  troops,  many  depredations  were  committed  by  our  people 
at  Newbern  ;  and  Mr.  Perry,  who  had  suffered  among  others,  felt  that 
he  should  have  some  redress.  Both  you  and  I  advised  him  to  trust  to  the 
Government,  and  at  the  same  time  expressed  the  opinion  that  the  Gov- 
ernment would  pay  loyal  citizens  for  property  appropriated  to  the  public 
service;  but  no  promise  or  demand  was,  to  my  knowledge,  made  by 
any  one. 

The  status  of  the  negro  had  not  been  well  defined  at  the  time,  by  the 
Government,  and  I  was  instructed  to  say  as  little  about  it  as  possible;  so 
that  all  my  actions  and  conversations  wTere  necessarily  guarded. 


13 

The  emancipation  proclamation  of  the  President  bad  not  been  issued 
at  the  time. 

There  was  much  excitement  in  tbe  city,  I  remember,  in  reference  to 
negro  schools,  and  ill-advised  steps  were  taken  by  some  of  the  soldiers  to 
exasperate  the  negroes.  I  advised  you  to  have  a  guard  at  your  quartsrs 
and  accordingly  ordered  one  there. 

I  have  always  understood  from  you  that  you  did  not  order  the  schools 
closed  ;  but  know  nothing  of  it  personally.  One  of  our  soldiers  was  ar- 
rested for  making  a  speech  denunciatory  of  you,  but  was  released  at  your 
request. 

Mr.  Helper  was  sent  off,  by  your  order,  for  writing  you  a  very  violent 
letter;  and,  a3  I  remember  it,  I  entirely  coincided  with  you. 

In  closing,  I  am  glad  to  say  that,  while  in  North  Carolina,  our  official 
intercourse  was  characterized  by  a  disposition,  on  your  part,  to  cooperate 
with  and  assist  me,  on  all  occasions ;  whilst  our  personal  intercourse  was 
of  the  most  friendly  nature. 

I  have  the  honor  to  be, 

Very  respectfully  yours, 

A.   E.   BURNSIDE. 

Thus,  it  will  be  seen  Mr.  Colyer's  witness  does  not  sup- 
port him. 

I  am  sorry  to  say  Mr.  Colyer  is  guilty  of  deliberate  false- 
hood. His  sketches  with  his  pencil  are  most  silly  and  ludic- 
rous exaggerations  ;  but  they  contain  as  much  truth  as  the 
representations  made  by  his  pen. 

I  did  give  Mr.  Bray  and  his  wife  permission  to  search  for 
their  slave-girl.  I  would  do  so  again,  under  the  same  cir- 
cumstances. His  wife  informed  me  she  had  been  carried  off 
against  her  consent  ;  was  in  bad  health,  and  needed  nursiDg 
and  such  attendance  as  could  not  be  had  in  the  crowded 
state  of  the  houses  occupied  by  the  negroes,  who  were  then 
dying  on  an  average  of  ten  per  day.  I  believed  this  state- 
ment. Mr.  Bray  had  given  no  aid  or  comfort  to  the  rebel- 
lion. He  resided  a  short  distance  from  the  town,  within  our 
lines.  In  fact,  part  or  the  whole  of  a  regiment  was  encamp- 
ed on  his  land,  and  within  sight  of  his  house  ;  so  there  was 
no  probability  that  the  "slave-girl"  could  be  carried  among 
the  rebels.  I  had  never  seen  the  girl.  Such  a  painter  as 
Mr.  Colyer  may  be  of  "  imagination  all  compact."     He  can 


14 

see  "  Helen's  beauty  in  a  brow  of  Egypt."  He  speaks  more 
than  once  of  the  "  great  beauty  of  many  of  the  quadroon 
girls,  who  attended  my  school,  for  the  more  advanced 
scholars." 

From  what  I  heard  and  believed,  I  thought  I  was  rescu- 
ing the  slave-girl  from  a  den  of  infamy,  and  restoring  her  to 
a  virtuous  home. 

There  was  one  other  case,  that  I  remember,  of  what  Mr. 
Colyer  calls  "  returning  fugitive  slaves  to  their  owners." 

Two  respectable  persons,  man  and  wife,  more  than  sixty 
years  old,  were  living  in  Beaufort,  North  Carolina,  where  they 
had  resided  more  than  forty  years.  Several  valuable  slaves 
had  left  them,  and  they  were  suddenly  reduced  from  a  condi- 
tion of  comfortable  independence  to  poverty,  and  without  any 
accusation  of  giving  aid  and  comfort  to  the  enemy.  They  had 
a  colored  child,  seven  years  old,  a  pet  of  her  mistress,  raised 
in  her  house,  and  fed  from  her  own  table.  These  old  people 
had  no  children.  Several  soldiers  had  entered  their  dwelling, 
and  forcibly  taken  the  child  away.  I  ordered  the  child  to  be 
returned  to  her  home.  There  was  no  possibility  it  could  be  car- 
ried out  of  our  lines.  The  town  was  under  the  'guns  of  Fort 
Macon,  and  there  was  no  rebel  soldier  within  thirty  miles. 
I  believe  I  was  right,  and  would  do  so  again,  under  the  same 
circumstances. 

And  for  these  acts,  Mr.  Colyer — bearing  false  witness 
against  his  neighbor — would  hold  me  up  to  the  country  as 
one  engaged  in  catching  runaway  slaves,  and  sending  them 
to  the  rebel  lines. 

When  slaves  came  within  our  lines,  the  property  of  rebels, 
I  not  only  protected  them,  but  recommended  them  for  em- 
ployment on  our  forts,  and,  in  some  instances,  secured  pay- 
ment of  their  wages.  I  will  not  waste  time  by  replying  to 
what  correspondents  of  papers  have  written.  Their  commu-n 
nications  bear  intrinsic  evidence  of  having  been  inspired  by 
Mr.  Colyer.  It  is  enough  to  prove  that  he  is  guilty  of  false- 
hood, without  replying  to  letter-writers,  who  had  no  personal 


15 

knowledge  of  what  they  wrote,  but  merely  gave  rumors — 
"it  is  said,"  "it  is  reported,"  etc.,  etc. 

It  was  my  misfortune,  Mr.  Sumner,  to  have  been  born  in 
a  slave-holding  country,  and  to  have  been  a  slave-holder  ; 
but,  while  living  among  them — the  world  contains  no  better 
Christians,  no  better  people— I  never  saw  the  day  when  I 
would  not  as  soon  have  stolen  a  sheep  as  to  have  taken  any 
part  in  catching  a  runaway  slave.  I  know  you  cannot  ap- 
preciate this  feeling,  not  peculiar  to  me,  but  belonging  to 
every  Southern  gentleman. 

I  would  as  soon  have  accepted  an  invitation  to  dine  with 
an  old  college-mate,  just  after  vilifying  him,  anonymously,  in 
the  newspapers ;  have  sat  by  his  side,  and,  while  drinking 
his  wine,  have  been  preparing  my  next  essay,  to  be  publish- 
ed a  few  days  after  the  dinner,  as  to  have  taken  any  part  in 
catching  a  runaway  slave. 

The  employment  of  a  butcher  or  a  scavenger  may  be  hon- 
est and  honorable,  but  I  have  no  taste  for  either  occupa- 
tion. 

While  residing  in  North  Carolina,  in  1849,  I  was  the 
owner  of  a  slave -woman,  whose  parents  had  been  the  prop- 
erty of  my  father.  She  was  married  to  a  man  whose  owner 
resided  in  the  town  where  I  dwelt.  Her  husband  escaped  to 
a  Northern  State,  and  she  soon  followed  him.  I  would  never 
listen  to  a  suggestion  to  take  any  steps  to  bring  her  back. 
She  was  honest,  faithful,  and  of  good  character.  As  soon  as 
I  learned  where  she  was,  and  while  the  Fugitive  Law  was  in 
force,  several  years  before  this  civil  war,  I  had  sent  her,  to  the 
care  of  an  ex-Member  of  Congress,  a  deed  of  emancipation.  I 
was  unwilling  that  she  should  even  suffer  from  the  apprehen- 
sion of  being  arrested.  Her  father,  who  was  an  honest,  re- 
ligious man,  and  a  good  servant,  had  reposed  confidence  in 
me,  and  I  would  not,  for  his  sake,  have  dealt  unkindly  with 
his  child. 

And  this  is  not  the  only  instance  of  like  conduct  on  my 
part. 


16 

If  by  any  possibility  I  should  be  tempted  to  write  my 
autobiography,  I  could  give  a  chapter  as  follows  : 

In  the  town  of  Newbern,  where  I  was  born,  free  negroes 
voted,  as  late  as  the  year  1835,  when  a  State  Convention 
(after  abolitionists  had  been  engaged  in  their  diabolical  work, 
and  an  insurrection  had  taken  place  in  Virginia)  by  a  small 
majority  deprived  them  of  the  privilege. 

We  had  then  borough  representation — five  or  six 
towns  sending  each  one  member.  My  father  had  often 
represented  the  town  in  the  State  Legislature.  About  three 
hundred  voters  resided  in  Newbern,  and  of  these  sixty  were 
free  negroes,  who  generally  voted,  without  exception,  for  him. 
It  was  said  of  him,  after  his  death,  by  one  who  had  known 
him  from  infancy,  that  no  man,  no  matter  what  the  color  of 
his  skin,  had  ever  sought  his  assistance  in  distress,  and  failed 
to  find  a  ready  advocate  and  a  friend. 

The  first  time  I  ever  voted,  it  was  in  company  with  a 
freed  man  emancipated  by  my  father,  for  meritorious  conduct, 
but  a  few  months  before.  (By  the  way,  this  old  gentleman, 
for  he  is  one,  was  alive  when  I  last  heard  from  him.  He 
was  living  in  Kinston  when  General  Foster  captured  the 
town,  on  his  successful  attempt  to  destroy  the  rail-road 
near  Goldsboro.  General  Foster,  to  prevent  pillage  and 
robbery,  had  ordered  the  Provost-Marshal  to  place  guards  to 
protect  private  property.  An  abolition  colonel,  entertaining 
your  opinions,  claiming  to  out-rank  the  Provost-Marshal,  dis- 
charged the  guard,  and  told  his  soldiers  to  enter  houses  and 
help  themselves.  Among  others  this  old  freed-man  was 
robbed.  He  was  a  barber — they  stole  his  razors  and  all  his 
money,  some  of  which  an  old  friend  of  his  had  sent  but  a  few 
weeks  before.  Cannot  you  and  the  "  Keverend  "  Mr.  Colyer 
raise  a  subscription  and  make  amends  to  this  honest  and  un- 
offending negro  ?  I  would  gladly  co-operate  even  with  such 
men — par  nobile  fratrum — in  so  good  a  work). 

While  residing  in  North  Carolina,  I  on  three  occasions 
defended  negroes,  accused  of  murder  for  killing  white  men. 


17 

In  two  of  the  cases  I  succeeded  in  saving  their  lives.  This 
was  after  I  had  been  in  Congress  Some  prudent  friends 
intimated  I  might  suffer  in  public  opinion  by  undertaking 
their  defence.  I  mention  to  the  honor  of  the  good  people 
I  represented,  it  had  no  such  effect,  for  I  was  again  elected  to 
represent  them. 

I  had  the  honor  to  be  for  a  short  period  Attorney  General 
of  North  Carolina,  and  it  became  my  official  duty  to  prose- 
cute persons  indicted  for  capital  felonies.  A  free  negro  wTas 
tried  for  killing  a  white  man,  and  it  was  an  easy  matter, 
without  offending  public  sentiment,  and  in  apparent  accor- 
dance with  duty,  to  have  urged  his  conviction.  I  might 
have  succeeded.  I  hope  I  thought  of  a  "  higher  law,"  when, 
by  my  consent,  he  was  acquitted  of  the  crime  of  murder. 

Who,  but  one  as  mean-spirited  as  you,  as  unchristian 
and  malignant  as  Mr.  Colyer,  would  accuse  me  of  trying  to 
catch  runaway  slaves  ? 

I  fear  I  may  offend  good  taste  by  this  egotism.  But  I 
speak  only  the  truth,  and  am  vindicating  a  name,  unstained 
by  dishonor,  from  false  and  cowardly  slanders. 

Mr.  Colyer  cannot  criticise  it,  for  though  in  one  of  his 
reports  he  quotes  a  text  of  Scripture,  "  He  that  speaketh  of 
himself  seeketh  his  own  glory,"  he  proceeds,  with  the  most 
silly  and  disgusting  self-adulation,  to  claim  credit  that  he 
never  deserved,  for  acts  that  he  never  performed.  It  were 
an  easy  matter  to  strip  him  of  his  jackdaw  plumes  ;  but  I 
forbear.  I  will  not  go  further  than  self-defence  will  justify. 
He  may  publish  pamphlets  full  of  fanciful  accounts  ;  he  may 
revel  in  his  self-glorification,  and  be  as  proud  of  his  efforts  as 
his  prototype  Jack  Horner  was,  when  he  "  pulled  out  a 
plum,"  and  he  will  have  no  annoyance  at  my  hands.  But  he 
must  not  slander  me,  under  the  apparent  sanction  of  an 
honorable  name. 

So  much  for  my  conduct  in  returning  fugitive  slaves. 

Mr.  Colyer  says,  in  the  extract  quoted,  that  I  gave  orders 
2 


18 

to  the  captain  of  a  steamer,  "forbidding  him  from  taking 
any  freed-men  North,  under  pain  of  the  confiscation  of  his 
vessel." 

If  such  an  order  was  given,  it  was  in  writing  :  Mr.  Colyer 
cannot  find  any  honest  man  who  will  say  I  ever  threatened 
to  confiscate  his  vessel.  I  have  lived  a  sober  man,  and  never 
been  crazy.  I  will  confess  I  should  have  been  sent  to  a 
lunatic  asylum,  and  not  appointed  Military  Governor,  or  to 
some  home  for  the  inebriate,  if  I  ever  made  such  a  threat. 
Orders  forbidding  the  carrying  away  of  negroes — stealing 
"  men-servants  and  maid-servants  "  I  call  it — were  given  by 
one  or  both  of  the  major-generals  commanding  the  depart- 
ment of  North  Carolina. 

These  officers  wanted  the  services  of  the  men  in  building 
forts  and  making  roads,  &c,  and  I  tried  to  prevent  the  steal- 
ing of  property  of  any  kind,  which  was  the  chief  cause  of  the 
deep  hostility  manifested  towards  me.  I  should  as  soon  have 
thought  of  "  confiscating  "  a  gunboat  or  a  fortification,  as  of 
confiscating  a  vessel  belonging  to,  or  chartered  by,  the 
Government.  I  should  as  soon  have  thought  of  confiscat- 
ing Mr.  Colyer, — if  a  thing  of  no  value  could  be  confiscated. 

The  charge  that  I  made  a  "  promise  "  to  Mr.  Perry,  for 
the  man  whom  Mr.  Colyer  had  "  taken  North,"  is.  false. 

The  charge  that  I  made  a  "  demand  upon  General  Burn- 
side,"  &c,  is  proved  to  be  false  by  the  General's  letter. 

Some  of  Mr.  Colyer's  "  friends  "  hated  rebels,  but  hated 
Union-men  worse.  They  could  not  have  the  much-coveted 
excuse  for  "  finding  things  " — "  trophies,"  as  they  called 
libraries,  pianos,  carpets,  mirrors,  and  household  furniture — 
and  "  taking  them  North."  Mr.  Perry  was  a  good  Union- 
man,  and  therefore  incurred  the  hostility  of  the  trophy-finders. 
In  intelligence  and  patriotism,  he  was  greatly  superior  to  Mr. 
Colyer  ;  in  all  respects — except  writing  fancy  reports,  and 


19 

drawing  caricatures  with  his  pencil — his  equal.  Mr.  Colyer 
injured  him,  and  therefore,  according  to  the  Spanish  proverb, 
hated  him. 

Our  troops  had  plundered  and  damaged  Mr.  Perry's  farm 
and  other  property.  He  had  a  blooded  horse,  valued  at  four 
thousand  dollars — "  found,  trophied,  and  taken  North,"  for 
which  he  received  no  compensation.  If  it  be  asked  how  these 
matters  were  managed,  the  answer  is  :  sometimes  the  quarter- 
masters having  charge  of  the  steamboats  were  abolition 
orators  and  politicians,  not  West-Pointers. 

And  now  for  the  "  expatriation  of  Mr.  Helper," — the  last 
mentioned  of  the  wicked  "acts  of  the  military  governor." 

The  letter  of  General  Burnside  states  how  great  was  the 
excitement,  and  what  he  thought  of  the  danger  in  which  I 
was  placed  from  the  negroes.  The  population  of  the 
town,  white  and  black,  was,  I  think,  about  five  thousand, 
when  the  rebellion  broke  out.  When  I  reached  Newbern,  it 
was  estimated  there  were  more  than  eight  thousand  negroes 
in  the  town  ;  of  course,  many  of  them  strangers  to  me,  for 
it  had  been  more  than  twenty  years  since  I  resided 
there. 

When  General  Burnside  ordered  a  guard  to  my  quarters, 
I  told  him  I  would  trust  my  life  in  the  hands  of  the  negroes 
who  had  known  my  father,  and  known  me  ;  it  was  only 
because  many  of  them  had  come  from  a  distance,  that  there 
was  any  apprehension  on  my  part. 

My  memory  is,  that  I  had  not  been  there  a  week  before 
Mr.  Colyer  abruptly  closed  his  schools  and  commenced  his 
agitation.  I  had  no  hostility,  no  reason  for  any,  against  Mr. 
Helper ;  but  he  was  insolent  in  his  lettsr,  loud  and  open- 
mouthed  in  his  censure  of  me.  It  was  indispensable  to  show 
that  I  had  some  authority,  or  to  leave  the  State.  I  took  the 
responsibility  ;  assumed  all  the  blame  ;  and  believe  I  was 
right. 

That  I  was  not  vindictive,  even  towards  the  soldier  who 


20 

tried  to  provoke  a  mutiny  that  might  have  cost  me  my  life, 
Gen.  Burnside's  letter  proves. 

I  will  give  you  excuse  for  another  essay,  and  furnish  Mr. 
Colyer  a  subject  for  another  picture,  by  mentioning  another 
case  of  "  expatriation." 

A  respectable  widow  came  to  my  office,  with  a  lady  who 
lived  with  her,  informing  me  that  a  negro-man,  accompanied 
by  several  soldiers,  had  entered  her  dwelling,  and,  with  great 
rudeness,  was  searching  every  room  in  the  house.  I  went  to 
her  dwelling,  from  which  the  negro  and  soldiers  were  just 
coming  out.  He  was  insolent,  and  seemed  to  be  intoxicated. 
He  had  committed  the  same  trespass  upon  other  citizens,  al- 
leging that  he  was  authorized  so  to  do  by  the  provost  mar- 
shal. This  was  not  true.  He  had  been  employed  as  a  detec- 
tive, but  never  to  enter  private  residences.  The  sergeant  or 
corporal  who  had  charge  of  the  guard,  had  brought  them  to 
the  house  at  the  request  of  the  "  colored  gentleman  ; "  and  at 
the  request  of  the  colored  gentleman,  without  the  order  even 
of  a  captain,  half  a  dozen  soldiers,  commanded  by  a  free  ne- 
gro from  the  North,  were  engaged  in  searching  the  houses  of 
aged  people  and  respectable  widows  ! 

If  he  had  not  been  sent  away,  I  should  soon  have  commit- 
ted self-expatriation. 

But  how  is  it,  Mr.  Sumner,  that  your  holy  indignation 
was  never  roused,  when  hundreds — sometimes  helpless  wo- 
men and  children,  sometimes  clergymen,  were  expatriated 
in  almost  every  Southern  State — sometimes  families  driven 
from  their  homes,  and  not  permitted  to  carry  household  furni- 
ture, or  even  clothing  ?  In  some  cases  the  power  was  prop- 
erly exercised,  but  in  many,  without   justification  or  excuse. 

So  much,  then,  for  all  these  "  acts."  I  stand  by  them. 
I  believe  they  are  right  in  the  sight  of  God,  and  in  the  opin- 
ion of  all  but  cowardly  and  fanatical  slanderers. 

That  I  may  satisfy  all  fair-minded  people  of  the  danger 
I  was  in,  I  give  below  the  substance  of  a  letter  written  by  a 
clergyman  of  Northern  birth  and  association,  and  a  resident 


21 

of  a  Northern  State,  who  happened  to  be  present  at  an  in- 
dignation meeting  held  by  the  negroes.  I  am  authorized  to 
give  this  clergyman's  name,  but  withhold  it  because,  I  sup- 
pose, like  all  gentlemen,  he  has  no  desire  to  attract  notoriety. 
He  makes  no  attack  upon  any  one,  and  in  the  opinion  of 
those  who  have  known  him  well,  wishes  only  to  spend  the  re- 
mainder of  his  useful  life,  as. he  has  many  years  past,  in 
"alluring  to  brighter  worlds,  and  leading  the  way." 

"  I  give  you  a  brief  abstract  of  my  recollections  of  a  meeting  I  attend- 
ed in  the  African  Church,  in  Newbern.  The  meeting  took  place  on 
Sunday  afternoon.  The  audience  were  wholly  African,  with  the  exception 
of,  perhaps,  half  a  dozen  white  persons.  The  preliminary  services  were 
conducted  by  a  white  man.  After  these  were  concluded,  a  long  address 
was  made  by  a  United  States  soldier  in  uniform.  The  first  part  of  it  was 
rambling  and  vague,  in  thought  and  expression.  During  the  latter  part 
of  it,  he  spoke  of  the  circumstances  in  which  his  audience  were  placed. 
He  said  they  were  free  ;  that  he  himself,  and  the  thousands  with  him,  had 
enlisted  in  the  army,  and  had  come  down  there,  for  the  sole  pur- 
pose of  breaking  their  chains,  etc.,  etc.  He  then  said,  a  man  had  appear- 
ed among  them,  with  the  title  of  Military  Governor,  who  had  begun  his 
duties  by  sending  back  to  her  mistress,  a  slave  who  had  left  her.  (Al- 
luding to  the  slave  of  Mrs.  Bray.)  But  he  was  glad  to  say  that  she  had 
been  rescued  again.  And  he  wished  to  tell  that  Governor,  that  for  every 
slave  he  attempted  to  send  back  into  bondage,  a  dozen  free  men  would  rise 
up  to  rescue  him.  They  had  enlisted  and  come  there  for  the  purpose  of 
freeing  them,  and  unless  they  accomplished  it,  would  have  come  in  vain. 
He  then  went  on  to  say,  that  they  must  not  leave  it  all  to  their  friends ; 
that  if  the  Governor  continued  to  send  them  back,  they  must  take  the 
matter  into  their  own  hands;  that  they  must  strike  down  everyone 
who  stood  in  the  way  to  freedom  ;  that  they  must  break  through  every 
hindrance;  that  it  would  be  better  for  every  house  to  be  burned, 
and  the  land  made  desolate,  than  that  they  should  be  made  slaves 
again,  etc.,   etc.,  etc. 

His  manner  was  very  excited.  He  occupied  about  twenty  minutes  in 
his  attack  on  Governor  Stanly's  policy. 

After  he  concluded,  the  negroes  were  in  a  state  of  high  excitement, 
when  a  class-leader  in  the  African  Church,  a  slave  named  Southey  Fon- 
veille,  arose,  and  commenced  by  saying,  that  they  had  listened  to  a  very 
excellent  discourse,  which  he  wanted  them  to  think  about.  But  all  parts 
of  it  were  not  suited  to  all.  He  wanted  each  to  take  the  part  that  was 
suited  to  himself,  and  to  think  about  it,  and  to  get  all  the  good  he  could 


22 

from  it,  but  not  to  go  outside  and  talk  about  it.  He  then  spoke  in  very 
kind  terms  of  Governor  Stanly,  whom,  he  said,  he  had  known  from  his 
earliest  infancy,  and  had  often  held  him  on  his  knee,  when  he  was  a  child ; 
that  he  was  sure  he  would  do  nothing  wrong  to  the  colored  people. 

He  then  likened  their  situation  to  the  children  of  Israel  coining  out 
of  Egypt — in  the  course  of  which  similitude  he  went  minutely  over  that 
part  of  the  history  of  the  Israelites,  and  showed  how  they  had  been  led  by 
the  hand  of  God  in  every  step  they  had  taken.  In  a  most  graphic  man- 
ner, lie  described  the  journey  of  the  Israelites  from  their  homes  to  the 
shores  of  the  Red  Sea.  He  then  pictured  their  situation  there — with  the 
sea  in  front,  and  Pharaoh's  army  behind,  and  no  way  of  escape  open. 
'Breddren,'  said  he,  'dar's  where  we  are  now! '  He  then  showed  how 
the  Lord  opened  a  way  through  the  sea,  and  that  He  would  do  the  same, 
in  his  own  good  time,  in  their  case,  but  they  must  wait  his  time,  etc.,  etc. 
I  was  much  impressed  with  the  old  man's  eloquent  speech,  and  it  was  not 
lost  upon  his  previously  excited  audience." 

I  confess,  even  after  the  lapse  of  years,  I  cannot  read 
this  account  without  emotion.  I  feel  proud  to  say,  that  this 
old  man,  who  probably  saved  my  life,  was  born,  and  had  lived 
many  years,  my  father's  slave.  If  he  can  read  the  Scriptures, 
it  is  more  than  probable  I  was  one  of  those  who  taught  him 
how.  I  had  rather  have  his  good  opinion  than  the  plaudits 
of  fifty  thousand  Sumners  and  Colyers. 

By  accident,  Mr.  Colyer,  in  his  pamphlet,  allows  some 
truth  to  escape  him.     In  speaking  of  the  negroes,  he  says  : 

"  Many  of  their  colored  preachers  exhort  with  great  earnestness  and 
power,  and  usually  present  the  Gospel  with  simplicity  and  truth.  One 
peculiarity  of  great,  if  not  vital,  importance,  that  must  be  considered  in 
forming  a  plan  for  the  proper  and  judicious  treatment  of  this  people,  is 
their  earnest  and  living  faith  in  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  Without  the  abil- 
ity to  read,  except  in  a  very  few  instances,  with  but  little  leisure  to  attend 
places  of  public  worship,  and,  through  long  and  painful  years  of  oppres- 
sion, they  have  been  blessed,  by  the  grace  of  God,  with  a  simplicity  and 
clearness  of  understanding  of  the  fundamental  doctrines  of  the  truth  of 
salvation,  as  it  is  in  Jesus  Christ,  that  is  most  astonishing.  If  one  would 
learn  what  precious  comfort  may  be  found  in  Christianity,  in  the  midst  of 
the  severest  trials  with  which  human  nature  can  be  afflicted,  let  him  go 
among  this  people.  In  the  evening,  after  the  toils  of  the  day  are  over, 
you  will  hear,  from  the  cabin  of  nearly  every  family,  the  sweet  sound  of 
hymns,  sung  with  plaintive  and  touching  pathos,  to  some  familiar  tune; 


23 

and  listen,  quietly,  as  you  pass  by,  and  yon  will  hear  it  followed  by  the 
earnestly-beseeching  voice  of  prayer.  Their  religious  meetings  are  usually 
crowded.  Before  the  rebellion  broke  out,  these  meetings  had  been  dis- 
couraged by  the  State  authorities,  whether  from  fear  of  the  slaves  I 
cannot  say,  though  I  always  heard  this  given  as  the  reason." 

From  whom  did  they  learn  the  truths  of  Christianity  ? 
From  their  owners— men  and  women,  Christian  slave-hold- 
ers3  who  felt  the  awful  responsibility  of  having  human  crea- 
tures dependent  upon  them,  for  whose  physical  wants  they 
were  bound  to  provide,  and  for  whom  it  was  their  duty  to 
furnish  religious  instruction.  And  nobly,  as  a  people,  have 
the  North  Carolinians  discharged  their  duty.  Often  and 
often  have  slaves  been  seen  kneeling  at  the  same  altar,  par- 
taking of  the  bread  of  life,  with  their  masters.  The  most 
accomplished  women  of  the  South — but  little  lower  than  the 
angels — have  felt  a  delight  in  performing  their  duty,  while 
teaching,  Sunday  after  Sunday,  the  little  negroes  the  valuable 
truths  of  Christianity.  In  remote  places,  where  churches 
were  inaccessible,  those  whose  misfortune  it  was  to  own  large 
bodies  of  slaves,  have  employed  preachers  by  the  year,  to  visit 
their  farms,  and  teach  and  preach  to  them  Gospel  truths.  I 
know  one  case,  of  a  most  estimable  gentleman,  who  employ- 
ed a  Baptist  and  Methodist  to  preach  to  his  negroes,  accord- 
ing to  their  wishes,  while  his  family  were  Episcopalians.  In 
the  town  of  Newbern — before  the  abolition  trophy-finders 
came — a  paradise  for  negroes — they  had  a  church  of  their 
own,  capable  of  holding  near  seven  hundred  persons.  So 
great  was  the  increase  of  religious  persons  among  the  Meth- 
odists, that  the  white  people  built  a  new  church,  and  surren- 
dered the  old  one  to  the  negroes.  There  they  learned  to 
"  exhort,  with  great  earnestness  and  power,  and  to  present 
the  Gospel  with  simplicity  and  truth."  There  they  were 
taught  "  the  fundamental  doctrines  of  the  truths  of  salva- 
tion, as  it  is  in  Jesus  Christ,"  and  "  astonishing  "  only  to 
such  fanatics  as  Messrs.  Sumner  and  Colyer.  There  they 
were  taught    to  sing   the  songs  of    Sion.       And   from  that 


24 

house,  more  than  forty  years  ago,  I  heard  "  the  sweet  sound 
of  hymns,  sung  with  plaintive  and  touching  pathos,"  that 
seemed  to  reach  the  heavens,  like  the  sound  of  many  waters. 
And  while  their  owners  united  with  them  in  worship,  their 
devotion  was  kindled,  and  their  hearts  filled  with  gratitude 
to  the  Great  Jehovah,  that,  amid  the  tremendous  responsi- 
bilities attending  a  slave-owner's  life,  their  slaves  could  learn 
the  inestimable  truths  of  Christianity. 

The  facts  stated  in  an  address  published  by  clergymen  of 
the  South,  of  different  dero ruinations,  of  the  large  number 
of  negroes  who  were  communicants,  I  have  no  doubt,  from 
my  own  observation,  are  strictly  correct.  A  large  por- 
tion of  the  Christian  world  believe  that  the  Scriptures 
should  not  be  in  the  hands  of  the  people  ;  that  religious 
instruction  can  come  purer  from  the  teachings  of  the 
priesthood.  Though  I  do  not  concur  in  this  opinion,  I 
would  not,  as  some  of  your  philanthropic  brethren  would 
do,  destroy  their  churches  because  of  this  belief.  It  is, 
thank  God,  certain,  that  the  truths  of  the  Gospel  confer 
blessings  upon  the  learned  and  the  ignorant  ;  and  can  be  ap- 
preciated alike  by  the  accomplished  Philemon  and  the  slave 
Onesimus.  We  do  not  read  that,  when  three  thousand  were 
converted  by  St.  Peter,  on  the  day  of  Pentecost,  they 
were  first  taught  to  read  and  write  ;  that  they  were  great 
and  noble  ;  but  they  were  "  out  of  every  nation  under  heav- 
en." "  Peter  lifted  up  his  voice,"  and  they,  "  about  three 
thousand  souls,"  heard  and  believed. 

It  is  a  great  mistake,  Mr.  Sumner,  to  suppose  that  learn- 
ing always  exalts  the  human  character.  It  did  not  teach 
you  what  honor  and  fair  dealing  required  in  your  intercourse 
with  gentlemen.  In  fact,  you  afford  an  almost  daily  illustra- 
tion of  the  truth  of  John  Randolph's  remark,  that,  if  a  man 
has  no  common  sense  to  build  upon,  though  he  may  have 
much  acquirement,  and  a  good  memory,  he  may  be  cursed 
with  a  collegiate  education  ;  he  is  soon  useless  and  ridiculous, 
and  like  a  Virginia  old  field,  "  cultivated  to  death." 


25 

Mr.  Colyer  made  a  report,  as  Secretary  of  the  "  Committee 
of  Merchants  for  the  Relief  of  Colored  People  suffering  from 
the  Late  Eiots  in  the  city  of  New  York,"  in  which,  while  he 
claims  for  the  free  colored  people  superiority  over  their  South- 
ern brethren,  in  education  and  refinement,  he  says  :  "  In 
physical  strength  and  vigor  of  body,  I  think  the  Southern 
refugees  are  their  superior."  Here  we  have  the  admission  of 
a  most  malignant  abolitionist,  that  the  slaves  understand 
clearly  the  fundamental  doctrines  of  Christianity,  and  are 
also  remarkable  for  "  physical  strength  and  vigor  of  body  !  '' 

Mr.  Vincent  Colyer,  though  bent  on  philanthropy,  evinces 
a  "  frugal  mind."  There  is  one  white  man  for  whom  he  en- 
tertains a  large  amount  of  charity,  whose  interests  he  does  not 
entirely  forget ;  and  that  man  is  Vincent  Colyer,  preacher,  art- 
ist, missionary  and  secretary.  With  ingenious  modesty,  he  sug- 
gests to  the  Committee  of  Merchants,  whether  it  might  not 
be  to  the  advantage  and  "  lasting  benefit  of  the  colored  peo- 
ple in  New  York  city,  to  have  this  mission  continued  per- 
manently among  them."  Again — "  Understanding  that  the 
present  Committee,  on  the  conclusion  of  its  labors,  will  be 
disbanded,  the  idea  has  suggested  itself,  whether  a  committee 
could  not  be  found  who  would  place  this  friendly  intercourse 
on  a  permanent  foundation,  and  carry  on  the  work  as  above 
suggested."  Happy  idea  !  Ye  rich  men  of  the  Committee, 
do  something  for  Mr.  Colyer,  "  permanently."  To  carry  on 
the  work,  if  no  Christian  charity  is  required,  and  no  regard 
for  truth  necessary,  Mr.  Colyer  may  be  serviceable.  And  if 
you  cannot  give  him  an  office,  recommend  him  for  one.  He 
cannot  live  without — he  must  have — an  office. 

When  I  desired  that  by-gones  should  be  by-gones,  and  to 
be  relieved  from  the  necessity  of  publishing  anything  that 
might  wound  your  feelings,  you  declined,  in  answer  to  a  civil 
suggestion,  to  make  any  reparation,  by  a  withdrawal  of  the 
unjust  remarks,  in  the  "  Atlantic  Monthly,"  assailing  me. 
You  not  only  did  this,  but  wrote  an  insolent  letter,  using  of- 
fensive terms,  and  reasserting  the  charges  complained  of ; 


26 

and,  with  characteristic   modesty,  you  beg  me  to  add  your 
letter  to  any  publication  I  may  make. 

But  first,  let  us  have  a  communication  addressed  by  me 
to  the  Secretary  of  War,  to  which  reference  is  made  by  you  : 

Head-Quarters,  Department  of  North  Carolina,  ) 
Newbern,  June  12£A,  1862.      f 

Hon.  Edwin  M.  Stanton,  Secretary  of  War. 

Sir:— 

Your  letter  of  the  3d  inst.  has  not  received  the  "  immediate  "  answer 
you  requested,  because  I  was  absent  in  Beaufort  when  it  arrived. 

You  send  me  a  copy  of  a  resolution  adopted  by  the  House  of  Repre- 
sentatives, on  the  2d  inst. ;  and  desire  I  should  furnish  the  Department 
"with  a  full  and  immediate  answer"  to  the  following  part  of  said  resolu- 
tion: 

"Second.  "Whether  the  said  Edward  Stanly  has  interfered  to  prevent 
the  education  of  children,  white  or  black,  in  said  State,  and  if  so,  by  what 
authority,  if  any." 

On  the  31st  of  May  last  I  addressed  you  a  letter,  which  I  presume  had 
not  been  received  when  you  wrote  on  the  3d  inst. 

In  that  letter  of  the  31st,  in  reference  to  matters  here,  I  made  the  fol- 
lowing observations : 

"The  perplexing  question  of  what  is  to  be  done  with  the  negroes,  is 
constantly  presenting  itself.  I  have  thus  far  managed  it  with  discretion. 
Upon  all  occasions  I  say,  I  have  no  hope  of  affording  redress  to  the  ene- 
mies of  our  country  ;  that  the  Union  is  to  be  restored,  cost  what  it  may 
in  blood  and  treasure,  and  this  is  a  matter  not  to  be  argued. 

"  One  person  came  to  me  yesterday,  who  had  four  slaves  taken  from 
him,  and  told  they  were  free,  by  a  rude  soldier  who  cursed  his  wife.  I 
suggested,  first,  that  he  must  take  the  oath  of  allegiance ;  this  he  agreed 
to  do.  Then  I  gave  him  authority  to  look  for  his  property,  advising  him 
to  use  mildness  and  persuasion.  He  did  so,  and  one  servant  voluntarily 
returned  to  the  house  of  a  kind  master.  This  has  already  excited  some 
evil-disposed  persons,  and  will  be  misrepresented. 

"Almost  all  the  inhabitants  have  gone  away,  and  the  belief  still  exists 
that  it  is  dangerous  for  them  to  return. 

"The  Confederates  refuse  to  allow  any  persons  to  come  to  this  place — 
keeping  away  even  women  and  children.  Unless  I  can  give  them  some 
assurance  that  this  is  a  war  of  restoration,  and  not  of  abolition  and  de- 
struction, no  peace  can  be  restored  here  for  many  years  to  come.  I  am 
making  efforts  to  induce  Union-men  to  come  and  talk  with  me.  I  feel 
confident  I  shall  be  successful  in  a  few  weeks. 


27 

"One  person  ventured  to  give  me  advice.  I  gave  him  at  once  per- 
mission to  go  to  New  York.  The  person,  whose  impertinent  meddling  I 
rebuked,  is  Mr.  H.  H.  Helper. 

"A  gentleman  of  good  Samaritan  inclinations  and  acts,  had  established 
a  school  for  negro-children.  He  called  and  informed  me  what  he  Avas 
doing,  and  asked  my  opinion.  I  approved  all  he  had  done  in  feeding  and 
clothing  the  destitute  white  and  black,  but  told  him  I  had  been  sent  to 
restore  the  old  order  of  things.  I  thought  his  negro-school,  if  approved  by 
me,  would  do  harm  to  the  Union  cause.  In  a  few  months  we  shall  know 
the  result  of  the  war.  If,  by  Southern  folly,  emancipation  comes,  their 
spiritual  welfare  would  not  suffer  by  the  delay,  for  I  desired  he  would 
give  such  oral  instruction  in  religious  matters  as  he  thought  best.  An- 
other reason  I  urged  was,  that  by  one  of  the  cruel  necessities  of  slavery, 
the  laws  of  North  Carolina  forbade  slaves  to  be  taught  to  read  and  write, 
and  I  would  be  most  unsuccessful  in  my  efforts  if  I  encouraged  the  viola- 
tion of  her  laws.  He  acquiesced,  I  thought  cheerfully.  If  the  old  resi- 
dents ever  return,  those  negroes  who  have  been  taught  to  read  and  write 
would  be  suspected,  and  not  benefited  by  it.  You  have  no  idea  how 
happy  the  influence  has  been  on  the  minds  of  the  excellent  and  severely 
punished  people  of  this  lovely  town.  This  school-affair  has  already  been 
much  misrepresented." 

This  extract  might  be  sufficient  to  answer  the  resolution,  but  as  you 
request  not  only  an  "  immediate  "  but  a  "  full "  answer,  it  may  be  proper 
to  add  something  more. 

To  the  extent  mentioned  I  did  interfere,  and  would  most  assuredly  do 
so  again  under  the  same  circumstances. 

My  authority  for  so  doing  was  the  only  instruction  given  me  in  your 
communication  of  May  20th,  18fi2,  in  the  following  words: 

"  It  is  obvious  to  you  that  the  great  purpose  of  your  appointment  is  to 
re-establish  the  authority  of  the  Federal  Government  in  the  State  of  North 
Carolina,  and  to  provide  the  means  of  maintaining  peace  and  security  to 
the  loyal  inhabitants  of  that  State." 

I  had  these  instructions  in  view,  when  I  made  the  suggestion  relative 
to  the  negro-school. 

And  in  your  letter  to  General  Burnside,  of  date  20th  of  May,  to  which 
you  referred  me,  you  state : 

"The  province  of  Gov.  Stanly  is  to  re-establish,  and  maintain,  under 
military  form,  the  functions  of  civil  government,  until  the  loyal  inhab- 
itants of  North  Carolina  shall  be  able  to  assert  their  constitutional  rights 
and  privileges." 

I  ask  to  be  instructed  what  "civil  government'1''  is  here  meant,  and 
what  are  the  "  constitutional  rights  and  privileges  "  of  the  loyal  inhab- 
itants of  this  State.  If  their  property  is  destroyed  or  removed  before 
peace  is  restored,  what  "rights  and  privileges"  are  they  to  expect? 


28 

In  the  interview  with  the  manager  of  the  school?,  I  made  use  of  no 
threats,  used  no  discourteous  language,  and  treated  the  gentleman  referred 
to  with  all  kindness.  He  called  the  next  morning  and  informed  me  he 
had  suspeuded  teaching  the  negro-children.  I  approved  what  he  had 
done,  but  nothing  approaching  unpleasantness  occurred  during  the  inter- 
view, nor  did  the  thought  enter  my  mind  I  had  given  him  offence.'  Not 
a  word  was  said,  nor  any  intimation  given  of  any  intention  to  "enforce" 
the  laws  of  this  State.  No  such  thought  was  in  my  mind,  nor  ever  can 
be. 

I  do  not  intend  to  be  guilty  of  disrespect  to  the  Secretary,  nor  to  be- 
tray too  much  sensitiveness;  and  will  not  therefore  comment  upon  what 
seems  to  me  to  be  unusual  language,  in  requesting  an  "immediate" 
answer. 

My  position  is  one  of  great  responsibility.  I  am  ready  to  meet  it.  I 
hope  it  is  an  honorable  one.  It  can  certainly  bring  no  profit,  and  is  not 
unaccompanied  with  peril.  I  have  great  difficulties  to  overcome — greater 
than  you  suppose,  and  am  entitled  to  all  the  confidence  and  support  which 
I  was  assured  I  should  have. 

I  believe  the  President  to  be  sincere  in  his  various  public  declarations, 
and  wish  to  make  the  people  of  North  Carolina  believe  him  to  be  sincere 
and  patriotic. 

But  I  am  grieved  to  say,  that  some  of  the  most  eminent  and  influen- 
tial of  our  citizens,  from  listening  to  oft-repeated  slanders,  have  been  per- 
suaded, and  charge,  the  Southern  country  is  invaded  by  "an  enemy,  who 
come  to  rob  us,  to  murder  our  people,  to  emancipate  our  slaves,  and  who 
is  now  preparing  to  add  a  new  element  to  this  most  atrocious  aggression, 
and  involve  us  in  the  direful  horrors  of  a  servile  war.  He  proposes  noth- 
ing less  than  our  entire  destruction,  the  total  desolation  of  our  country — • 
universal  emancipation,  to  crush  us,  to  wipe  out  the  South,  to  involve  us 
in  irredeemable  misery  and  hopeless  ruin." 

Though  I  know  all  this  is  the  effect  of  long-continued  excitement,  and 
not  words  of  truth  and  soberness,  but  of  passion,  and  altogether  incorrect 
in  every  particular;  still,  they  are  the  words  of  sincerity  from  men  of  ir- 
reproachable lives,  who  denounced  secession  as  treason,  down  to  the  day 
when  the  North  Carolina  Convention  passed  the  ordinance  of  secession. 

If  this  idea,  so  monstrously  incorrect,  be  in  the  minds  of  men  of  strni 
ing  and  influence,  how  must  the  large  body  of  the  people  regard  the 
action  of  the  General  Government? 

In  view  of  this  most  deplorable  condition,  I  avail  myself  of  the  privi- 
lege I  understood  from  you  I  should  have,  of  asking  instructions  upon  the 
following  points: 

1.  When  slaves  are.  taken  from  the  possession  of  their  legal  masters, 
by  violence  offered  by  armed  men  and  negroes,  what  redress  shall  be 
afforded  to  the  owners  and  what  protection  for  the  future? 


29 

2.  "When  persons  connected  with  the  army  prevail  on  negroes  to  leave 
their  masters,  shall  the  loyal  master  or  mistress  have  permission  to  pre- 
vail on  them  to  return,  and  be  protected  while  so  doing? 

3.  When  steamers  and  vessels  are  almost  daily  leaving  this  State,  and 
negroes,  the  property  of  loyal  citizens,  are  taken  on  board,  without  the 
consent  of  their  owners — who  are  sometimes  widows  and  orphans — will 
authority  be  given  to  prevent  their  being  removed? 

4.  In  cases  where  aged  and  infirm  people,  who  have  been  always  loya 
inhabitants — and  treated  with  cruelty  by  secession  soldiers  because  of 
their  loyalty — have  had  their  able-bodied  slaves  taken  away,  their  barns 
robbed  and  fences  destroyed,  themselves  unable  from  age  and  infirmity  to 
labor — shall  any  effort  be  made,  either  by  persuasion  by  the  civil  authori- 
ty or  otherwise,  to  have  them  delivered  up? 

5.  If  the  Military  Governor  shall  interfere  with  any  action  which  it  is 
known  will  violate  the  long-estabjjshed  law  of  JSTorth  Carolina,  and  a  per- 
son connected  with  the  army  on  the  Sunday  following  shall  make  inflam- 
matory appeals  to  a  crowd  of  several  hundred  negroes,  exhorting  them  to 
resort  to  violence  and  bloodshed,  what  action  shall  be  taken  by  the  Gov- 
ernor, if  any,  to  prevent  the  recurrence  of  such  conduct  ? 

6.  When  the  slaves  of  loyal  citizens — who  have  never  given  aid  and 
comfort  to  the  rebellion,  and  sometimes  suffered  because  they  did  not — 
are  employed  by  the  authorities  of  the  United  States,  in  various  kinds  of 
labor,  can  any  steps  be  taken  to  secure  a  portion  of  what  is  due  for  their 
labor  to  their  owners? 

These  are  not  cases  of  imagination :  they  have  occurred,  and  are,  most 
of  them,  coming  before  me  for  action  daily.  I  will  not  weary  or  distress 
you  by  the  details. 

I  hope  I  am  not  exceeding  the  duties  of  my  place,  while  I  urgently, 
but  most  respectfully,  request  an  answer  to  these  questions. 

When  I  receive  that  answer  I  shall  be  able,  without  delay,  to  inform 
the  Department  how  far  I  can  be  relied  upon  to  carry  out  its  wishes. 

Every  day's  experience  impresses  more  forcibly  on  my  mind  the  con- 
viction, felt  by  abler  and  better  men  than  myself,  that  some  course  of 
policy  must  be  adopted  as  to  the  disposition  of  slaves  within  our  lines. 

If  the  army  advances,  and  their  numbers,  already  large,  shall  be  in- 
creased, what  is  to  be  done  with  them?  Who  will  support  them  or  their 
owners— often  loyal  and  true  men,  already  reduced  to  want  by  the  rebel- 
lion— who  can  make  no  crops  without  their  aid?  The  expense  of  feeding 
the  negroes  will  be  enormous.  It  is  estimated  that  each  negro-man,  em- 
ployed by  Government,  will  require  in  wages  and  subsistence  forty  dollars 
per  month,  to  support  himself  and  family,  who  generally  accompany  him. 

It  is  my  heart-felt  desire  to  restore  to  my  native  State  the  countless 
blessings  conferred  by  the  Union.  I  am  ready  to  make  any  sacrifice  a 
gentleman  and  pat'-iot  can  make  to  do  so.     But  if  I  cannot  rely  upon  the 


30 

'perfect  confidence  and  full  support  of  the  War  Department,"  which  was 
promised  me,  I  desire  to  know  it. 

The  loss  of  my  humhle  abilities  will  not  be  felt  by  this  great  country. 
If  I  am  to  act  without  instructions,  and  not  to  be  supported  when  I 
pursue  the  deliberate  dictates  of  my  judgment  and  conscience,  then  I  ask 
— the  only  favor  I  ever  asked  for  my  personal  benefit  of  any  administra- 
tion— to  be  allowed  to  tender  my  "immediate"  resignation,  and  to  be  re- 
stored, as  early  as  possible,  to  the  honor  of  a  private  station. 
I  have  the  honor  to  be 
.   '  Your  obedient  servant, 

(Signed)   EDWARD  STANLY, 
Military  Governor  of  North  Carolina. 

Had  you  no  other  means  of  reaching  the  public  ear,  I 
would  gratify  your  request  to  publish  your  letter. 

It  contains  no  argument  worth  answering.  If  any 
patriot  of  common  sense,  having  any  remnant  of  respect  for 
you,  should  read  it,  he  will  conclude,  with  a  majority  of  your 
countrymen,  that  you  are  not  only  an  ill-mannered,  but  a 
crack-brained  fellow.  But  you  can  be  heard.  You  can  have 
your  letter  published  in  some  paper  of  large  circulation. 
Speak  it  in  the  Senate.  Print  it  in  the  "  Atlantic  Monthly  ;" 
its  publishers  will  treat  you  with  the  courtesy  they  have  not 
extended  to  me. 

But  I  will  not  withhold  the  evidence  upon  which  your  opi- 
nion is  founded. 

You  refer  me  to  the  "  Congressional  Globe,"  2d  Session, 
37th  Congress,  part  3d,  pp.  2,477  and  2,596. 

On  p. 2,477  I  find: 

"Mr.  Sumner  said — 

"I  have  the  official  report  of  this  extraordinary  transaction. 

"In  a  conversation  between  Governor  Stanly  and  Mr.  Colyer,  the  Gov- 
ernor stated  that  there  was  one  thing  in  Mr.  Colyer's  doings,  as  superin- 
tendent of  the  poor,  a  question  would  be  raised  about,  indeed  it  had  been 
already,  and  that  was  his  (Colyer's)  keeping  school  for  the  blacks.  'Of 
course  you  are  aware,1  said  the  Governor,  'that  the  laws  of  the  State 
make  the  opening  of  such  schools  a  criminal  offence.  My  instructions 
from  Washington  were  that  I  was  to  carry  out  the  laws  of  North  Carolina 


31 

precisely  as  they  were  administered  before  the  breaking  out  of  this  unhappy 
affair;  so,  if  I  were  called  upon  for  a  decision  in  the  matter  of  your 
schools  for  the  blacks,  I  would  have  to  decide  against  you ;  but,  at  the 
same  time,  I  don't  want  anything  done  abruptly.  As  a  man,  I  might  do, 
perhaps,  as  you  have  done;  but  as  a  Governor,  I  must  act  in  my  official 
capacity,  according  to  my  instructions,  and  administer  the  laws  as  I  find 
them.' 

"  C.  H.  MENDELL, 

"  Clerk  to  Mr.  Colyer. 
"  A  true  copy. 
"  Newbern,  May  28, 1862." 

Then  follows  a  further  statement : 

"  Mr,  0.  C.  Leigh,  who  was  with  General  Saxton  in  the  Oriental,  on 
his  way  to  South  Carolina,  as  confidential  agent  of  the  National  Freed- 
men's  Relief  Association,  and  who  has  just  returned,  asked  Mr.  Colyer 
what  he  should  do.  Mr.  Colyer  replied,  i  I  must  close  the  schools,  as  I 
cannot  consent  to  continue  to  place  myself  in  a  situation  where  I  am  liable 
to  be  punished,  according  to  the  laws  of  North  Carolina.'  Mr.  Leigh  is 
Chairman  of  our  Home  Committee." 

I  have  italicised  one  or  two  lines  in  the  above  "  official 
report." 

To  all  by  whom  I  am  known  I  am  willing  to  leave  the 
charge  of  my  closing  the  schools  upon  my  own  statement. 
Mr.  Mendell's  certificate  was  evidently  drawn  up  by  Mr. 
Colyer.  So  far  from  contradicting,  it  supports  my  state- 
ment ;  for,  according  to  this  "  official  report,"  I  said,  "  if  I 
were  called  upon  for  a  decision,"  &c,  and  "  Mr.  Colyer  re- 
plied, "  I  must  close  the  schools." 

Mr.  Colyer  is  not  only  a  silly,  but  an  excitable  and  timid 
man.  He  probably  thought  he  was  in  danger  of  severe  and 
horrible  punishment.  But  why  not  appeal  to  General  Burn- 
side  ?  The  General  would  have  objected,  and  had  I  deter- 
mined to  close  the  schools,  I  should,  in  deference  to  him, 
have  yielded  ;  for,  "  as  a  man,"  I  told  Mr.  Colyer  I  had  no 
fault  to  find  with  his  schools. 

Mr.  Mendell  no  doubt  shared  Mr.  Colyer's  excitement. 
It  will  be  seen   Mr.  Mendell  says,  I   was  "  instructed "  to 


32 

"  carry  out  the  laws  of  North  Carolina  precisely  as  they  were 
administered  before  the  breaking  out  of  this  unhappy 
affair." 

Before  I  left  Washington  city  I  had  asked  for  instruc- 
tions ;  had  left  my  home  in  San  Francisco,  not  doubting  I 
would  have  instructions.  I  had  been  advised  by  an  intimate 
friend,  in  whose  integrity  and  judgment  I  placed  great  confi- 
dence, that  I  ought  not  to  go  to  North  Carolina  without  in- 
structions ;  I  had  asked  the.  President  for  instructions,  after 
Mr.  Stanton  had  declined  to  give  them,  and  the  President 
referred  me  to  Mr.  Seward,  and  he,  in  complimentary  terms, 
said  I  needed  no  instructions,  &c.,  &c.  When  I  first  ar- 
rived in  Newbern,  and  called  on  General  Burnside,  I  told 
him  of  the  painful  responsibility  I  felt  in  having  no  in- 
structions. In  my  letter  to  the  Secretary  of  War  it  will 
be  seen  I  referred  to  this  fact ;  and  yet  the  Colyer  certificate, 
the  "  Official  Beport,"  makes  me  declare  I  had  "  instruc- 
tions "  to  carry  out  the  laws  of  North  Carolina  precisely  as 
they  were  "  administered  "  before  the  rebellion  ! 

The  whole  country  knew  that  martial  law  had  been  pro-r 
claimed,*and  that  all  courts  within  our  lines  had  been  sus- 
pended ;  no  man  in  his  senses  would  have  thought  of 
attempting  such  an  impossibility. 

I  had  no  intention  of  interfering  with  his  schools.  With 
indecent  pertinacity  he  insisted  upon  having  my  opinion  : 
he  said  he  wanted  my  approbation.  Knowing,  as  I  did,  that 
a  large  majority  of  the  people  of  North  Carolina  were  opposed 
to  secession,  and  anxious  to  be  restored  to  the  protection 
of  that  flag  in  defence  of  which  thousands  of  them  were 
willing  to  die,  I  thought  it  not  prudent  to  give  my  appro- 
bation— it  being  entirely  useless  for  any  good  purpose  to  do 
so — of  anything  which  was  calculated  to  enable  secession- 
traitors  to  excite  prejudice  against  me. 

"  Mj  offence  hath  this  extent — no  more." 


33 

Mr.  Colyer  more  than  once  said  : 

"These  schools  had  been  under  way  about  six  weeks  when  Governor 
Stanly  arrived;  on  his  making  known  to  me  his  opposition  to  their  con- 
tinned  existence,  I  (Vincent  Colyer)  stopped  them." 

The  President  and  Secretary  of  War  were  overwhelmed 
with  complaints  against  me  ;  every  source  of  information 
was  open  to  them  :  there  was  no  scarcity  of  philanthropic 
patriots  ready  to  take  my  place.  I  was  a  stumbling-block 
in  the  way  of  thieves  and  trophy-finders.  I  was  no  office- 
seeker,  and  was  unwilling  to  hold  office  one  hour  after  my 
conduct  was  disapproved  by  the  President.  My  opinions 
and  acts  had  been  boldly  avowed  and  justified,  and  yet  the 
President  and  Secretary  not  only  tolerated,  but  expressly 
approved  what  I  had  done.  Of  this,  I  confess,  I  am  proud 
and  grateful.  With  painful  apprehension  I  entered  upon  an 
untried  theatre  :  without  precedent  or  instructions,  relying 
upon  the  patriotism  and  integrity  of  these  high  officers.  I 
did  not  rely  upon  them  in  vain  ;  and  though  I  differ  widely 
upon  great  public  measures  with  them,  I  have  uniformly 
spoken  of  them  with  the  courtesy,  respect,  and  kindness, 
which  justice  demands. 

With  their  approbation  I  may  and  do  laugh  to  scorn  the 
malignant  falsehoods  of  a  regiment  of  Sumners  and  Colyers. 

I  would  not,  for  the  sake  merely  of  exposing  the  ridiculous 
pretensions  of  Mr.  Colyer,  state  a  fact  in  relation  to  the 
schools  for  negroes  in  North  Carolina,  but  justice  to  the  people 
of  Newbern  requires  it. 

Mr.  Colyer  has  illustrated  his  fables  by  a  picture  repre- 
senting negroes — women  with  babies  in  arms,  and  little  chil- 
dren—rushing into  his  "public  school,"  and  beneath  this  pic- 
ture are  these  words  : 

"  The  first  public  school  for  colored  people  in  North  Carolina,  establish- 
ed by  Vincent  Colyer,  April,  1862." 

Alas  for  the  instability  of  human  glory  ! 
3 


34 

It  is  a  fact  well  known  to  residents  in  Newbern,  that,  for 
many  years  before  the  rebellion,  there  were  schools  for  negroes 
in  that  town.  One  school  was  taught  by  a  free-woman,  the 
wife  of  a  slave,  a  carpenter — an  honest,  worthy  man,  who  was 
living  in  that  town  in  1862.  I  know  one  gentleman  who 
had  a  slave  who  was  a  pupil  in  that  school. 

Besides  this  school,  there  were  two  musical  societies  for 
adults,  meeting  one  evening  in  each  week,  to  study  and  prac- 
tise vocal  music. 

There  was  one  school  taught  on  Sundays,  by  a  white 
woman,  where  the  negroes  learned  to  read. 

In  the  year  1856  and  afterwards,  both  the  Methodist  and 
Episcopal  churches  sustained  Sunday  Schools  for  colored 
children,  where  they  were  taught  to  read. 

And  the  Christian  people  who  allowed  and  sustained 
these  schools,  are  represented  by  Vincent  Colyer  as  inhuman 
barbarians,  keeping  negroes  in  a  state  of  ignorance,  and  de- 
priving them  of  all  religious  instruction  !  The  fact  is,  that 
the  law  was  always  odious  to  the  people,  was  passed  under 
the  excitement  produced  by  an  insurrection  in  Virginia,  and 
only  kept  on  the  Statute-books  to  deter  abolitionists  from 
circulating  their  infamous  publications.  In  hundreds  of 
families  negroes  were  taught  to  read.  And  so  goes  another 
feather  from  the  jackdaw's  borrowed  plumes. 

Your  letter  of  29th  January,  1865,  needs  no  answer. 
"What  I  have  written  already  is  answer  enough.  Argument 
and  reasoning  are  thrown  away  upon  one  who  believes 
"  slavery  to  be  the  sum  of  all  villanies  "  ;  who,  sworn  to  sup- 
port the  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  constantly  dis- 
regards its  injunctions,  and  who  is  now,  by  virtue  of  his  position 
as  Senator,  a  leader  of  that  class  of  infuriate  fanatics,  who 
want  an  "  anti-slavery  constitution,  an  anti-slavery  Bible, 
and  an  anti-slavery  God."  I  would  as  soon  do  anything  to 
secure  their  approbation,  as  I  would  catch  a  runaway  slave, 
steal  a  horse,  stab  in  the  dark  a  hospitable  college-mate,  or 
deliberately  bear  false  witness  against  my  neighbor. 


35 

I  have  accounted  for  your  malice  ;  but  how  to  find  a 
reason  for  Mr.  Colyer's,  I  confess  puzzles  me.  He  made  no 
complaint  of  incivility  on  my  part.  When  he  returned  to 
Newbern  after  his  visit  with  you  to  the  President,  and  came 
back  with  another  supply  of  "  jellies,  colored  pamphlets, 
blackberry  brandy,"  &c,  &c,  I  did  not  interfere  with  him. 
As  far  as  I  know  his  schools  were  continued  ;  they  gave  me 
no  annoyance,  and  I  let  them  alone.  Yet  he  has  published, 
with  malice  aforethought,  a  pamphlet,  in  which  he  devotes 
several  pages  to  slander  me.  Self-defence  justifies  me  in 
refuting  his  falsehoods.  But,  besides  his  misrepresentation 
of  me,  his  pamphlet  proves  what  many  in  the  army  and  in 
civil  life  thought  of  him  :  that  he  was  the  most  credulous 
philanthropist  that  ever  followed  an  army. 

He  gives  a  disgusting  picture  of  "  Miscegenation  at  the 
South " — a  horrible  story,  manufactured  by  and  for  him. 
To  complete  it,  he  should  have  added,  that  the  brute  he 
spoke  of  had  regularly  for  breakfast  a  roasted  negro.  Mr. 
Colyer  can  "  strain  at  a  gnat  and  swallow  a  camel."  He 
shudders  with  holy  horror  at  one  case  of  miscegenation,  and 
yet,  had  he  been  willing  to  see,  he  could  have  learned  the  sad 
fate — among  abolitionists — of  hundreds  of  those  "  beautiful 
girls  "  of  whom  he  writes  in  such  glowing  terms. 

For  the  sake  of  his  " friends"  the  less  Mr.  Colyer  says 
upon  that  subject  the  better. 

Mr.  Colyer  gives  a  romantic  story,  called  "  History  of  a 
Scout,"  "  written  down  from  his  own  lips  "  !  in  which  he 
speaks  of  a  man  who  kept  a  pack  of  "  bloodhounds,"  used  in 
hunting  negroes.  I  have  lived  in  North  Carolina  more  than 
forty  years,  and,  as  a  candidate  for  Congress,  travelled  over 
ten  counties — the  district  I  represented  being  nearly  two 
hundred  miles  in  extent  ;  I  practised  law  there,  in  several 
counties,  nearly  twenty  years,  with  every  opportunity  for  ob- 
servation ;  and  I  do  not  remember  that  I  ever  saw  a  blood- 
hound. I  never  knew  a  man  of  whom  it  was  reported  that 
he  kept  bloodhounds.     Some  one  case  like  that  Mr.  Colyer 


36 

mentions  may  have  existed,  but  I  doubt  it.  Bat,  suppose  it 
to  be  true  :  are  all  the  people  of  North  Carolina  to  be  judged 
by  this  one  monster  ?  Within  the  last  week  I  have  seen  an 
account,  in  a  free  State,  where  a  man  murdered  his  wife,  his 
father,  and  his  mother.  I  can  find  more  instances  of  wife- 
murder,  and  other  horrible  crimes,  in  any  free  State,  than  can 
be  found  of  men  who  kept  bloodhounds  to  catch  negroes  in 
North  Carolina. 

But  admitting,  for  argument's  sake,  that  more  than  one 
man  kept  bloodhounds,  in  a  State  where  there  were  more  than 
three  hundred  thousand  slaves  :  the  white  people  were  treated 
with  more  inhumanity  ;  for  abolitionists  and  emissaries  of 
Prison  Aid  Societies  in  Europe,  "  savage  men,  more  savage 
still"  than  bloodhounds,  were  put  upon  the  tracks  of  our  un- 
fortunate white  people. 

I  was  informed  by  respectable  and  loyal  persons  that  it 
was  a  matter  of  frequent  occurrence  for  soldiers  in  the  army 
of  the  United  States  to  catch  .negroes,  who  had  fled  to  our 
lines  for  protection,  and  to  return  them  to  the  enemy  for  the 
reward  offered — sometimes  fifty  dollars,  or  less.  Shall,  there- 
fore, our  whole  army  be  accused  of  carrying  on  the  inhuman 
slave-trade  ?  With  as  much  truth  and  justice  as  the  people 
of  North  Carolina  are  denounced  for  keeping  bloodhounds  to 
catch  negroes. 

Mr.  Colyer  could  find  no  good  thing  that  any  white  per- 
son ever  did  in  that  good  old  State.  He  came  there  under 
the  belief  that  they  were  all  brutes,  and  acted  accordingly. 
To  his  colored  "  sisters,"  as  he  fondly  called  them,  he  was 
most  courteous  and  considerate  ;  to  the  most  worthy  but  un- 
fortunate white  people,  who  were  compelled,  by  the  pangs  of 
starvation,  to  ask  for  food,  his  conduct  was  often  offensive 
and  insulting.  So  many  complaints  were  made  of  the  rude- 
ness of  negroes,  encouraged  by  abolitionists,  it  became  ne- 
cessary to  appoint  a  Superintendent  of  the  Poor,  as  well  as  a 
"  Superintendent  of  the  Freedmen."  I  knew  of  one  family 
who  would  not  submit  to  the  violence  of  Colyer   and  his 


37 

friends — declined  to  apply  for  provisions,  and  were  supported 
by  the  efforts  of  a  faithful  slave,  who  commiserated  their 
condition.  I  did  not  publish  these  complaints,  nor  wish  to 
injure  Mr.  Colyer  ;  but  he  probably  knows  the  complaints 
were  made,  thinks  I  believed  them,  and,  therefore,  slanders 
me.  If  Mr.  Colyer  had  watched  my  conduct  in  Newbern 
closely,  he  must  have  known  that  there  was  scarcely  a  day  in 
which  I  was  not  called  upon  to  interpose  in  behalf  of  some 
poor  negro,  treated  inhumanly  by  some  abolition  soldier. 
Sometimes  my  office  was  crowded  with  negroes,  asking  pro- 
tection, which  was  never  refused.  They  could  not  always  see 
the  General  Commanding  ;  his  important  duties  made  it  im- 
possible^ sometimes  for  days,  to  see  me.  Often  and  often 
they  were  removed,  and  threatened  to  be  removed,  from  their 
houses,  by  subordinate  officers  and  soldiers,  and  I  interposed 
and  prevented  the  attempted  wrong.  Again  and  again  have 
I  forbidden  soldiers  to  remove  their  garden-fences  to  build 
stables,  or  for  firewood.  I  have  interposed — never  without 
the  approbation  of  the  General  Commanding — to  relieve  them 
from  imprisonment,  when,  unjustly  or  by  mistake,  they  were 
confined.  Had  they  applied  to  Mr.  Colyer,  he  would  have 
given  them  a  jar  of  "jelly,"  or  an  "illustrated  report,"  and 
have  told  them  to  sing  "  Hallelujah  !  his  soul  is  marching 
on."     But  for  anything  else — "  that's  not  in  our  line." 

Until  a  few  years  ago  both  white  and  black  were  buried 
in  one  common  enclosure  ;  it  became  crowded,  and  the  ne- 
groes had  a  grave-yard  of  their  own,  enclosed  with  a  neat 
wooden  fence,  built,  as  I  was  informed,  by  subscription  among 
the  whites.  There  their  honored  remains  rested,  unmolested 
by  white  slave-holders,  who  respected  their  "  rude  memo- 
rials," as  they, 

"With  uncouth  rhymes  and  shapeless  sculpture  decked, 
Implored  the  passing  tribute  of  a  sigh  ;" 

and,  although  wood  was  abundant  in  the  neighborhood,  the 
philanthropic  friends  of  humanity,  the  men  of  "moral  ideas," 


38 

destroyed  the  fence  for  fire-wood.  When  I  heard  that 
"the  old  order  of  things  was  trampled  out/'  unmindful  of 
Mr.  Sumner's  opinions,  I  exercised  the  "unconstitutional 
power,"  against  "  injustice  and  barbarism,"  of  issuing  an 
order  to  the  Provost-Marshal  to  prevent  the  consummation 
of  the  outrage.  It  was  arrested  for  a  short  period,  but  in  a 
few  weeks  the  fence  around  the  grave-yard  was  all  gone.  The 
report  made  in  answer  to  my  order  was,  that  they  had 
"  asked  and  received  permission  from  some  of  the  freedmen  !  " 
To  them,  the  request  from  a  soldier  was  a  command.  The 
abolitionists  acted  in  the  spirit  of  the  highwayman,  who  met 
a  traveller,  and,  with  pistol  in  one  hand  and  his  hat  humbly 
held  in  the  other,  said,  "  In  the  name  of  the  Virgin,  alms  !" 

I  remember  another  instance  of  abolition  humanity  for 
the  negro.  An  old  colored  man  had  lost  his  cow  ;  she  was 
found  in  the  yard  of  a  house  occupied  by  a  Massachusetts 
philanthropist.  I  issued  an  order  that  the  cow  should  be  re- 
stored to  her  owner  ;  this  was  refused  by  a  note  in  writing, 
unless  the  negro  would  first  pay  for  feeding  the  cow  !  The 
abolitionist  made  no  allowance  for  the  milk — feeding  her, 
too,  upon  Uncle  Sam's  hay  !  A  Massachusetts  gentleman, 
ashamed  of  his  countryman,  begged  me  not  to  report  the  case 
to  the  General.  I  consented,  and,  according  to  his  promise, 
the  cow  was  delivered  up  in  less  than  two  hours.  From  no 
person,  white  or  black,  was  any  money  demanded  or  received 
by  me,  or  by  any  one  by  my  consent,  for  anything  done  in 
their  behalf.  To  the  negroes,  in  numerous  instances,  permis- 
sion was  given  to  cultivate  abandoned  fields,  and  to  cut  and 
sell  wood;  and  no  "idea  ever  suggested  itself"  of  making 
money  for  granting  such  favors. 

Some  of  Mr.  Colyer's  "  friends  "  cannot  say  as  much  with 
truth  ;  the  less  they  say  on  this  subject  the  better. 

Of  the  outrageous  injustice  and  cruelty  practised  to  ne- 
groes by  abolitionists  elsewhere  I  will  not  speak  now.  The 
facts  have  been  published  by  Northern  men.  They  have  died 
on  the  Mississippi  by  thousands,  from  want  of  food  and  cloth- 


*  39 

ing.  Even  now,  from  the  halls  of  the  House  of  Kepresenta- 
tives,  report  comes  of  their  dying  by  starvation  in  sight  of 
the  National  Capitol. 

I  remember  the  case  of  two  negro-men  who  had  lived  in 
the  country — had  lost  their  property,  because  they  had  taken 
refuge  within  our  lines  ;  they  had  rendered  valuable  services 
to  General  Burnside,  who  had,  upon  leaving  the  Department, 
commended  them  to  my  favor.  A  house  had  been  provided 
for  them  in  town,  where  they  lived  in  comfort  with  their 
families.  They  came  to  see  me,  saying  they  were  ordered  to 
leave  the  house  immediately,  with  their  wives  and  children, 
by  a  "  soldier-man."  Having  resigned,  I  was  preparing  to 
leave,  but  immediately  made  the  facts  known  to  General 
Foster,  who  promptly  interposed. 

And  here  I  take  pleasure  in  saying  that  I  can  remember 
no  instance  of  doing  anything  that  incurred  the  disapproba- 
tion of  either  General  Burnside  or  General  Foster,  who  com- 
manded in  North  Carolina  while  I  was  there.  I  consulted 
them  whenever  their  engagements  allowed,  and  tried  to,  and 
did,  relieve  them  of  much  troublesome  labor.  These  and 
other  West-Pointers,  brave  on  the  battle-field,  even  ferocious 
against  armed  rebels,  never  tarnished  their  fame  by  stealing, 
trophy-finding,  or  robbery  of  unoffending  citizens.  But  it 
was  impossible  for  them  to  watch  the  enemy  and  take  care 
of  the  morals  of  abolition  Colonels,  Majors,  Captains,  &c, 
&c,  at  the  same  time. 

They  never,  when  requested,  refused  to  exercise  their 
authority  to  protect  innocence  or  prevent  robbery. 

Had  the  war  in  North  Carolina  been  conducted  by  sol- 
diers who  were  Christians  and  gentlemen,  that  State  would 
long  ago  have  rebelled  against  the  rebellion.  But,  instead 
of  that,  what  was  done  ?  Thousands  and  thousands  of  dol- 
lars'worth  of  property  was  "conveyed  North" — libraries, 
pianos,  carpets,  mirrors,  family  portraits — everything,  in 
short,  that  could  be  removed  was  stolen  by  men  abusing 
"  flagitious  "  slave-holders,  and  preaching  "  Liberty,  Justice, 


40 

and  Civilization."  I  was  informed  that  one  regiment  of 
abolitionists  had  "  conveyed  North  "  more  than  forty  thous- 
and dollars'  worth  of  property.  They  literally  "  robbed  the 
cradle  and  the  grave."  Family  burying  vaults  were  broken 
open  for  robbery;  and  in  one  instance,  (the  fact  was  pub- 
lished in  a  Boston  paper,  and  admitted  to  me  by  an  officer 
of  high  position  in  the  army,)  a  vault  was  entered,  a  metal- 
lic coffin  removed,  and  the  remains  cast  out,  that  those  of  a 
dead  soldier  might  be  put  in  their. place.  Against  these 
brutal  and  beastly  barbarities,  who  has  ever  heard  the  voices 
of  Sumner  and  Colyer  raised  ?  "  Bloodhounds,  Miscegena- 
tion, Liberty,  Justice,  and  Civilization  ;  give  every  negro - 
child  a  spelling-book  and  one  of  Colyer's  illustrated  reports," 
would  be  the  song  of  these  philanthropists." 

"  That's  in  our  line." 

Cases  were  numerous  where  old  men,  upon  the  most 
frivolous  pretexts,  were  thrown  into  prison,  and  often  their 
houses  and  barns  destroyed  by  fire  after  they  were  robbed. 
I  remember  one  instance  where  several  houses  were  burnt 
and  robbed,  and  among  others  that  of  a  Methodist  preacher, 
whose  Bible  and  little  library  and  only  horse  were  stolen.  He 
was  brought  to  Newbern,  and  lodged  in  a  felon's  jail,  where 
he  remained  several  days,  before  I  heard  of  it.  No  man,  since 
St.  Stephen  was  stoned,  ever  bore  injuries  with  more  Christian 
spirit — humble,  resigned,  even  submissive.  He  used  no 
words  of  anger  or  reproach.  He  had  never  polluted  the  pul- 
pit by  preaching  politics,  and  was  without  the  disposition  or 
ability  to  bear  arms,  having  for  years  suffered  from  a  severe 
bodily  injury.  I  tried,  with  General  Foster's  generous  aid,  to 
recover  his  books,  but  in  vain.  I  complained  to  the  General 
of  these  barbarities,  of  the  bad  effect  they  would  produce 
upon  the  minds  of  the  people  of  the  State.  He  ordered  a 
Colonel  who  commanded  the  expedition  to  call  on  me,  to  hear 
what  the  clergyman  had  lost,  and  to  see  whether  any  re- 
covery could  be  effected.  Nobody  was  to  blame  for  burning 
the  house  :  a  party  of  sailors  or  marines  had  accompanied 


41 

the  expedition  ;  the  army  officers  blamed  the  marines,  the 
marines  blamed  the  soldiers.  The  Colonel  told  me  he  could 
not  prevent  stealing  ;  for  while  the  clergyman's  house  was 
being  robbed,  he  left  his  valise  in  one  room,  and  went  into 
another  for  a  few  minutes,  and  it  was  robbed  while  he  was 
gone.  For  any  reparation  made  to  this  good  man,  whom  I 
had  long  known  and  respected  for  his  unaffected  piety  and 
life,  I  was  denounced  for  "  protecting  rebels." 

Take  another  example  of  abolition  brutality  to  prisoners  : 
one  party,  on  a  military  expedition,  had  taken  several 
prisoners.  On  returning  to  Newbern,  they  came  through 
Pamlico  Sound  :  they  tied  the  hands  of  one  prisoner  behind 
him,  and  threw  him  overboard  in  its  deep  and  dark  waters. 

When  I  found  prisoners  were  confined  in  jail,  who  had 
been  men  of  good  character — sometimes  old  men,  taken  by 
our  troops  on  occasional  raids,  against  whom  no  charge  of 
crime  or  treason  was  made,  but  captured  to  prevent  their 
giving  information — I  took  them  from  the  association  of 
felons  to  a  house,  where,  though  forbidden  to  leave,  they 
were  comparatively  comfortable.  For  this  act  of  humanity, 
often  extended  to  men  known  for  their  life-long  opposition  to 
secession,  and  to  honest  people  arrested  on  suspicion,  the 
abolition  letter-writers  vilified  me  for  putting  rebels  in  a 
"  palatial  residence." 

I  may  be  furnishing  you,  Mr.  Sumner,  with  material  for 
another  essay  ;  but  no  matter,  so  you  affix  the  name  of  "  your 
faithful  servant,  Charles  Sumner,"  to  it.  I  know  you  will 
not  be  "  personal."  I  may  be  guilty  of  the  folly  of  reviving 
matters  sunk  in  oblivion.  But  I  prefer  the  truth  should  be 
known. 

The  Kev.  Horace  James  (referred  to  by  Mr.  Colyer  as  one 
of  "  the  best  friends  of  the  freedman  to  be  found  in  the  coun- 
try"), wrote  a  letter,  under  the  sanction  of  his  own  name, 
making  assertions  not  very  complimentary  to  some  officers  of 
the  army,  nor  to  myself.  Upon  General  Foster's  calling  the 
attention  of  Mr.  James  to  the  impropriety  of  writing  such 


42 

letters,  and  to  the  injustice  of  his  statements,  he  wrote  a  let- 
ter correcting  them  in  part.  One  statement  he  did  not  cor- 
rect, believing,  no  doubt,  he  had  reported  the  truth.  When 
I  called  his  attention  to  this,  very  politely,  giving,  as  my 
reason,  my  unwillingness  to  be  censured  by  a  clergyman,  he 
promised  to  give  me  his  author. 

He  brought  me  a  statement  in  writing,  I  think,  sworn  to 
by  William  0.  Brown,  of  the  25th  Mass.  Volunteers,  in  which 
Brown  says  that  in  July  or  August,  1862,  he  heard  Captain 
(now  Col.)  E.  E.  Goodrich  say  that  I  had  given  the  superinten- 
dent of  the  poor  orders  for  provisions,  which  he  (Goodrich) 
believed  were  for  the  benefit  of  persons  in  the  rebel  army,  and 
to  feed  their  wives  and  children  ;  and,  further,  Mr.  Brown 
stated  that  Capt.  Goodrich  said  : 

A  short  time  before  this,  three  ladies,  well  dressed,  and  of  cultivated 
appearance,  came  into  his  office,  with  an  order  from  Gov.  Stanly,  requir- 
ing him  to  deliver  them  such  provisions  or  commissary  stores  as  they 
might  call  for.     The  crier  was  unlimited. 

In  answer  to  a  letter  from  me,  Col.  Goodrich  says  he 
"  firmly  believes  that  Lieut.  Wm.  Brown,  with  whom  I  had  a 
conversation,  did  not  intentionally  misrepresent  my  language. 
I  did  not  say  that  you  gave  unlimited  or  indiscriminate  or- 
ders for  subsistence  ;  to  the  contrary,  every  one  of  your  orders 
was  most  specific,  and,  in  my  opinion,  entirely  proper  and 
judicious.  *  ":::"  *  °  I  repeat  to  you  at  this  time  the 
assurance  contained  in  my  other  letters,  that  all  of  my  inter- 
course with  you,  both  social  and  business,  was  of  the  most 
pleasant  and  satisfactory  nature.  I  believe  your  administra- 
tion of  the  duties  incumbent  upon  the  Military  Government 
of  North  Carolina  to  have  been  most  just  and  discriminating, 
and  it  gives  me  great  pleasure  in  relieving  you  from  any  impu- 
tation which  any  misunderstanding  of  my  declarations  may 
have  caused."  If  I  remember  right,  the  letter  of  Mr.  James 
appeared  in  a  paper  called  "  The  Congregationalism"  I  do 
not  remember  in  what  New  England  town  it  is  published.     I 


43 

do  not  know  where  Mr.  James  now  is.  Should  he  see  this 
letter,  I  shall  hope,  though  late,  that  he  will  make  the  cor- 
rection due  to  one  who  gave  him  no  offence,  and  as  becomes 
a  Christian  and  a  gentleman.  Upon  the  unpleasant  attitude 
in  which  Wm.  0.  Brown  appears  I  make  no  comments.  I 
hope  he  will  be  more  careful  when  he  makes  affidavits  im- 
peaching my  conduct. 

This  is  a  specimen  of  the  sort  of  warfare  that  was  carried 
on  against  me. 

Another  instance.  What  was  called  a  "public  meeting" 
was  held,  in  which  resolutions  were  passed,  denunciatory  of 
my  conduct  in  ordering  an  election  for  a  member  of  Congress. 
Upon  a  report  made  after  careful  examination,  by  an  intelli- 
gent officer,  it  appears  that  a  few — I  think  less  than  a  dozen — 
persons  assembled,  and  several  of  them  made  oath  that  the 
resolutions  had  been  changed  by  an  unprincipled  "  soldier  of 
fortune,"  to  whose  hands  they  had  been  entrusted  to  be  for- 
warded to  Washington.  Thus  forgery  was  joined  to  false- 
hood in  the  work  of  detraction. 

I  am  giving  a  true  history,  Mr.  Sumner,  of  the  conduct  of 
those  who  are  encouraged  in  their  infamous  work  by  wicked 
men  in  high  places.  And  now,  Mr.  Sumner,  hoping  you  will 
not  regard  as  "personal"  what  I  have  written,  I  take  my 
leave  of  you» 

I  ought  to  thank  you  for  the  excuse  you  have  furnished 
me  of  contradicting  reports  calculated  to  injure  me.  I  have 
spoken  plainly  of  Mr.  Colyer  ;  in  the  words  of  the  illustrious 
hero-statesman,  Winfield  Scott,  "  the  natural  and  Christian 
right  of  self-defence  "  justifies  it. 

I  omit  to  say  other  things  which  might  not  add  radiance 
to  the  laurels  with  which  he  thinks  he  has  adorned  his  brow. 
I  treated  him  in  North  Carolina  with  tenderness 'and  consid- 
eration, under  the  belief  that  he  was  a  "preacher,"  and, 
therefore,  to  be  respected.  I  knew  "  the  man  was  mortal  and 
was  a  schoolmaster,"  and  therefore  made  allowances  for  the 
egotism  and  silly  eccentricity  which  marked  his  conduct,  and 


44 

which  brought  upon  him  the  ridicule  of  army  officers,  by 
whom  he  was  called  the  "  apple-sauce  philanthropist."  After 
he  closed  his  school,  and  went  to  Washington  city,  having 
made  speeches  reflecting  on  me,  he  returned  to  Newbern. 
With  kind  courtesy,  when  he  called  to  see  me,  I  mentioned 
the  fact  that  he  had  done  me  injustice,  and  was  mistaken  in 
supposing  I  said  I  intended  to  "enforce"  the  laws. of  North 
Carolina.  I  thought  he  was  animated  by  the  spirit  of  a  gen- 
tleman when  he  said  he  would  correct  it  ;  he  published  a  card 
to  that  effect,  and  in  his  illustrated  pamphlet  he  very  shab- 
bily indulges  in  a  pitiful  quibble,  and  re-asserts  his  falsehood. 
His  "friends"  complained  of  one  act  of  decent  behavior  ! 

Mr.  Colyer  seems  to  have  as  much  aversion  to  telling  the 
truth  as  you  have  to  any  measure  calculated  to  restore  peace 
to  our  country.  He  seems  unable,  by  pencil  or  pen,  to  pour- 
tray  anything  truly.  I  know  not  by  what  code  of  "  moral 
ideas  "  he  can  be  acquitted  of  doing  intentional  wrong. 

In  one  of  his  pictures  he  represents  two  negroes  "  defend- 
ing Newbern,  February,  1864,"  against  countless  rebels. 
Since  the  days  of  Samson,  and  Hercules,  and  Falstaff,  no 
mortals  have  performed  such  wonderful  feats.  The  "  colored 
sergeant "  who  "  did  not  know  a  letter  of  the  alphabet "  when 
he  first  became  a  pupil  of  Vincent  Colyer,  in  March,  1862, 
and  could  so  soon  write  such  a  letter  as  Mr.  Colyer  says  he 
received  from  him,  will  be  remembered,  while  Mr.  Colyer's 
pictures  are,  as  a  more  wonderful  hero  than  was  ever  sung  of 
by  poet  or  pictured  by  historian.  His  credulity  is  as  ridicu- 
lous as  his  disregard  of  truth  is  disgusting. 

But  while  he  makes  demigods  of  the  negroes  he  does  not 
forget  to  magnify  his  own  deeds.  According  to  his  own 
statements,  that  most  useful  and  noble  organization,  the 
Christian  Commission,  owes  its  origin  to  his  suggestion.  It 
may  be  so  ;  great  results  are  sometimes  brought  about  by 
most  insignificant  instruments.  If  the  cackling  of  geese 
saved  a  city,  such  an  idea  might  have  "  suggested  itself"  to 
Vincent  Colyer. 


45 

He  not  only  claims  credit  for  having  "driven"  the  Mili- 
tary Governor  to  commit  himself  "  irrevocably  to  the  Free 
State  policy,"  but  he,  Yincent  Colyer,  "had  secured  the 
right  of  the  refugee  slaves  to  their  freedom,  and  to  be  edu- 
cated !  ! "  So  now,  Mr.  Abraham  Lincoln,  you  may  hang 
your  harp  on  the  willows.  A  large  portion  of  mankind  give 
you  the  credit  of  securing  freedom  to  refugee  slaves  by  the 
Proclamation  of  1863.  It  is  all  a  mistake — hang  your  dimin- 
ished head.  Vincent  Colyer,  the  incarnation  of  truth  and 
charity,  did  it  all.  And  the  Military  Governor  was  driven  by 
Colyer's  manifestation  "  of  popular  feeling  "  to  commit  him- 
self "irrevocably  to  the  Free  State  Policy  ;"  and  the  proof 
is  that  he  resigned  his  office  because  he  could  not  support  the 
Proclamation  ! 

But  I  let  Mr.  Colyer  go.  I  am  in  danger  of  forgetting 
the  old  adage — "  He  is  a  poor  sportsman  who  shoots  game 
not  worth  the  bagging," 

I  know,  Mr.  Sumner,  that  I  am  above  the  reach  of  your 
malice.  I  was  a  young  man  when  first  in  Congress,  and 
often,  in  times  of  party  excitement,  I  have  said  much  that  I 
would  wish  should  be  forgotten.  I  did  injustice  sometimes  to 
those  who  were  strangers  to  me.  But  you  deserved  all  that 
was  said  of  you.  The  coalition  by  which  you  were  first 
elected  was  denounced  in  Massachusetts  as  a  "  crime."  You 
would  soon  have  passed  away  and  have  been  forgotten,  or  only 
distinguished  before  conventions  of  spiritualists,  or  of  wo- 
man's rights,  but  for  the  unjustifiable  punishment  you  re- 
ceived in  the  Senate-Chamber.  "  I  regret  to  say  what  I 
must,  but  truth  compels  me."  While  all  good  men  united 
in  condemning  your  assailant,  they  felt  hearty  contempt  for 
your  pusillanimous  winnings  at  home  and  in  Europe. 

The  liberty-loving  people  of  Massachusetts  regarded  the 
attack  upon  you  as  violating  the  liberty  of  speech.  You  be- 
came the  representative  of  an  idea  ;  and  to  this  alone  you 
owe  your  continued  election. 

Though  in  private  life,  I  know  I  am  entitled  to  as  much 


46 

respect  as  you  are.  I  have  never  solicited  office  from  the  Gen- 
eral Government.  When  I  left  North  Carolina  I  went  to 
avoid  the  cares  and  impoverishing  honors  of  public  life.  In 
California,  when  I  accepted  the  unsolicited  nomination  of  the 
Republican  party  as  their  candidate  for  Governor,  in  1857, 
they  were  in  a  minority  ;  it  was  then  a  reproach  to  he  called 
a  Republican.  They  were  defeated  by  the  "  Know-Nothing  " 
and  Democratic  parties.  Afterwards,  when  the  wicked  re- 
bellion caused  patriots  of  all  parties  to  act  with  the  Repub- 
licans, and  they  came  into  power,  though  I  voted  for  their 
candidates,  I  have  neither  asked  for  nor  expected  to  receive 
any  of  the  spoils  of  office,  which  belong  to  the  victors. 

I  left  my  distant  home  and  went  to  my  native  State,  with 
the  patriotic  hope  of  inducing  her  people  to  return  to  their 
duty.  That  I  did  some  little  towards  protecting  the  inno- 
cent and  defenceless,  I  know  ;  I  thank  the  Father  of  the 
fatherless  that  I  was  the  humble  instrument  of  doing  any 
good.  Though  I  saved  thousands  of  dollars'  worth  of  prop- 
erty for  others,  I  made  not  a  dollar,  or  thought  of  making 
one  for  myself.  My  political  opinions  were  not  concealed 
from  the  President.  I  am  not  aware  that  any  act  of  mine  as 
Military  Governor  was  censured  by  him. 

From  the  beginning  of  my  public  life  to  this  day,  "  among 
beasts  at  Ephesus"  in  the  South,  and  in  the  House  of  Repre- 
sentatives, 

O'er  lake,  o'er  marsh,  through  fevers  and  through  fogs, 
'Midst  bears  and  Yankees,  Democrats  and  frogs, 

no  man  has  been  more  constant  or  earnest  in  denouncing  Se- 
cession, or  Nullification,  as  Treason. 

By  extremists  of  the  South,  because  I  spoke  of  slavery 
as  an  evil,  and  advocated  and  voted  for  tariffs  to  protect 
American  labor  and  industry,  I  was  called  an  abolitionist, 
and  a  Southern  man  with  Northern  principles.  No  man  can 
accuse  me  of  doing  anything  to  encourage  sectional  feeling. 

I  resigned  the  position  of  Military  Governor  because  I 


47 

could  no  longer  hold  it  with  any  hope  of  doing  good  to  North 
Carolina  ;  nor  with  honor  to  myself  or  justice  to  the  admin- 
istration. I  believed,  and  still  believe,  that  the  Emancipa- 
tion Proclamation  would  make  the  war  more  bitter,  and  pre- 
clude all  hope  of  peace.  Two  years'  experience  justifies  this 
belief. 

Should  Lee's  army  be  captured,  and  Richmond  and  Charles- 
ton taken,  still  there  can  be  no  peace  for  many,  many  years,  if 
the  counsels  of  abolition  prevail.  If  every  slave-owner  in  North 
Carolina  should  advocate  immediate  emancipation,  there  are 
several  hundred  thousand  non-slaveholders,  anti-slavery  men, 
who  will  demand  to  be  heard.  They  will  tell  you  you  will 
not  allow  them  to  come  to  Massachusetts,  and  ask  you  how 
they  are  to  be  provided  for  ?  Who  will  furnish  them  land  ? 
They  will  never  consent — any  man  of  common  sense,  with 
any  knowledge  of  human  nature,  knows  it — that  they  should 
remain  among  them  and  be  free. 

Be  comforted,  Mr.  Sumner.  Lay  aside  your  fears..  There 
is  no  hope  of  peace  at  present.  Enjoy  while  you  may  the 
delights  of  your  present  position.  In  a  few  years  you  will 
awake  to  a  knowledge  of  the  truth,  that  you  are  regarded 
as  a  fantastic  dreamer,  as  destitute  of  common  sense  as  of 
courage,  full  of  crotchets  and  political  whimsies.  And  when 
men  ask,  "  How  could  the  glorious  old  commonwealth  of 
Massachusetts,  the  land  of  Adams,  Webster,  Davis,  Choate, 
and  Everett,  have  sent  such  a  man  to  the  Senate  ?  "  the  an- 
swer will  be,  "  Alas  !  poor  human  nature  ;  did  not  the  child- 
ren of  Israel,  even  under  the  leadership  of  Moses,  and  after 
the  revelations  from  Mount  Sinai,  bow  down  and  worship  the 
molten  calf  ?  " 

I  am,  dear  Sir, 

"  Your  faithful  servant," 

EDWAED  STANLY. 


48 


To  Hon.  Edward  Stanly. 


War  Department,  "Washington,  ) 
May  12th,  1863.      \ 


In  accepting  your  resignation  as  Military  Governor  of  North  Carolina, 
I  cannot  but  express  my  regret  that  the  Government,  in  this  trying  hour, 
should  lose  the  benefit  of  your  able  and  patriotic  service. 

It  is  my  duty  and  pleasure  to  state  that  all  the  functions  devolved  upon 
you  during  your  official  connection  with  this  Department,  onerous  and 
vexatious  though  many  of  them  were,  have  been  discharged  with  a 
zeal  and  fidelity  unsurpassed  by  any  public  servant. 

Your  intercourse  with  this  Department  has  been  marked  by  the  cour- 
tesy that  has  eminently  distinguished  your  personal  character,  and  your 
official  business  has  been  conducted  with  promptness  and  alacrity. 

I  trust  that  honor  and  prosperity  will  attend  you  through  life,  and 
that  you  will  always  enjoy  the  pleasant  reflection  of  having  faithfully 
performed  a  high  and  responsible  duty  to  your  Government  in  the  hour  of 
its  trial. 

With  sentiments  of  profound  respect  and  sincere  friendship,  I  have  the 
honor  to  be, 

Your  obedient  servant, 

Edwin  M.  Stanton, 
Secretary  of  War. 


